Chapter 1
Most people are born into an aura of love and hope. I, on the other hand, wasn't quite so lucky.
My mom and dad divorced before I was even two. I guess having a little bundle of joy didn't save their marriage, like they thought it would. My older sister, Rosalie, always hated me. A little voice in the back of my mind told me it was because she blamed me for splitting our parents up. Renée, formerly known as my mother, raised us the best she could on a one-paycheck salary, but the odds were against her and she was barely making ends meet.
Then I guess she just decided to … give up. It all happened so quickly. One day she just didn't get out of bed; the next she was prescribed sleeping pills and assigned a new position in Forks, Washington. I was miserable there, even at the age of eight. Renée was too caught up in her mid-life crisis to be busied with me. Rosalie always put her friends first. Before I knew it they were both leaving me behind.
Needless to say, I was alone a lot. I distanced myself from Renée, never wanting to need her, while pushing myself towards Rosalie, needing her approval. Most people in my position would have been pregnant or in a crack house by now, so think of me as saved. I'm only a hanger-on.
That night started out like any other in Forks, except this time my sister was back in town for the long weekend with her wilder friend, Heidi Clark. The older girls used any excuse to make the trip from Seattle, where they've been attending university for years now. I had no idea why anyone would choose to come back here, even if two of their best mates were still in high school.
"Tell me when the girls are arriving." I hear Rosalie's voice before entering her room and instinctively pausing.
"Soon, I hope," Heidi answers. "I'm getting awfully bored of your chronic news watching."
"It's what I do, alright? Anyway, I want to get started, too." Rosalie says, her sigh filling the room and echoing into the hall. "We know you're there, Bella."
My heartbeat stops as the silence stretches on. Shit, I should have known she'd hear me. It's not like I hid my stomping up the stairs. I ruefully show myself, stepping into the light. Rosalie peers at me while Heidi has a wry look.
"I'm sorry," are the first stupid words to come out of my mouth.
She waves me on.
"I was just supposed to tell you that Alice and Jessica are here."
My sister's large, shiny eyes study me. "Well, bring them up and maybe you can visit."
As I walk promptly down the stairs, off to do Rosalie's bidding, it shocks me that I still listen to a word she says. If I had the mind to, I could turn into her worst enemy. Unfortunately, being vindictive was not in my strong suits.
During sophomore year, Rosalie and Heidi became close friends when they discovered each others gift for cruelty. They liked to play nasty little games of cat and mouse with girls of their class. No one ever came forward to oust them, because who knew what would happen to you next? I know this because I was a 5th year at the time and had a habit of pressing my ear against her door. Not before long, the girls were joined by two freshmen; Jessica Stanley, an outgoing girl with a growing fortune (thanks to her dad's new line of air fresheners); and Alice Brandon, whose childlike charm was disarming to anyone. Rosalie's the epitome of perfection, so it only made sense for her to be their leader. On top of having a perfect SAT score, she had the entire town wrapped around her perfectly manicured finger. When you're 21, brilliant and beautiful, the world is within reach.
Not having any friends of my own to hang out with on a Thursday night, I did my old thing where I curl up on Rosalie's blue armchair. Rosalie and her friends sit around her bed, settling into positions they know well. It's been nearly three years since she lived here, but nothing has changed.
Alice leans forward with an adorably determined look as she aims to paint her toenails light pink. Jessica flips a page in her magazine and her thin lips pucker even more. Annoyance doesn't look good on her, even though it's her default. Heidi's fingers are working to keep up with her brain when she gets a text on her Blackberry. Suddenly her mouth pops open, exposing perfect front teeth, and she holds the phone to Rosalie's blue eyes. I watch my sister's face as her blond eyebrow quirks imperceptibly.
You can bet they're scheming again; up to old tricks. I had thought they stopped after that girl, Victoria Lucas, dropped out of University… right after they burned her enviably long, red hair off. The girls tolerate me because I know too much. Of course Rosalie's kid sister would get a pass.
But sometimes I felt like it was more than that. Like, I don't know... friendship, maybe.
"Holy crap, look at the news!" Alice suddenly squeals, pointing with one hand and covering her mouth with the other. "I didn't think Forks could make international news!"
Rosalie gives the younger girl a sympathetic look, "CNN is hardly international, sweetie."
I glance at the newscast headline, reading what Alice must have seen; 'next up ... Forks shaken after shocking announcement from Carlisle Cullen.'
Heidi Clark (the up-and-coming model) is giving Alice hell for yelling and Rosalie's putting her hand on her thin arm, and saying, "Can we please be civil?"
"Yeah, her mom is sleeping in the other room, idiot," Jessica snaps.
"It's not my fault I'm such an effervescent person," Alice pouts.
"Oh, get over yourself!" Heidi says as she picks up a pillow, jumping on the bed towards little Alice in a loose interpretation of a cave man. As Heidi pelts her with the pillow, the giggling pixie falls to the floor like a wounded baby bird. Rosalie leans away from them with high brows while Jessica turns back to her magazine. Soon the small girl is pinned between Heidi's muscular thighs and is being pummelled with a pillow.
"Girls, stop," Rosalie finally says, pronunciation each word carefully, as if talking to children. She does this to be undercover mean, I know; she uses this on me all the time. It works because the girls immediately freeze. "Heidi, if you could hide your erection for Alice a second, I'd really like to get on with my night."
Alice takes her cue, wiggling out from under her friend and sitting on my sister's bed while saying, "As I said earlier, you know, before Heidi attacked me, was that we need to watch the news!" No one makes a move so she stands, her petite frame barely blocking the screen. "They said Carlisle's name earlier and I was thinking we could-"
"Okay, Alice, we get it. No one wants to watch the news more than me." Rosalie interrupts in that condescending, rising tone; the one that makes you think she's going to insult you ... except my sister doesn't say a word.
Heidi simply picks up the remote with measured moves, as if trying too hard to act casual and turns the volume up. Jessica is looking everywhere but at me. Of all the girls, she was the worst liar. Rosalie's poker face never had the slightest crack, but even sitting so still proved she had something to hide. She meets my eyes while I'm studying her and, in the span of a second, her eyebrows knit together into what looked like distress… then it vanished.
Okay, maybe I'm overreacting here. Being too suspicious had its draw-backs, sure, but I've seen my sister's schemes in action before. It always starts with a dangerous situation; a gamble; maybe a slip from someone else... then it was a race to see if it would fall through. They rarely did. Rosalie didn't like to lose and that's all it was to her; a game. She didn't care that she was playing with people lives. Maybe that's what she liked about it. As my sisterly duty, I always stayed out of her schemes. Now I wasn't so sure.
By now the girls have all focused on the television; all previous activities forgotten. A middle-aged woman with a blond bob glides onto the screen sitting next to an old white haired man. We've missed most of the report, so we listen intently for the rest.
"Jim, how do you think the residents will feel about this new arrangement?"
"Well, Diane, I think a lot of the residents of Forks are going to feel unprotected and, well, scared. These are teenage boys we're talking about and I think it's a serious misjudgement on Mr. Cullen's part."
"I couldn't agree with you more, Jim. Here's Trish Mason on the scene."
"They're sleeping together," Heidi says.
"No, they're not," snorts Rosalie.
The camera pans out and switches to the woman who reads the 10 o'clock news. Despite the fierce wind whipping through her hair, she smiles. Behind her is a building anyone who's lived in Forks more than a month has seen. It's a sweeping structure that resides just outside of the reservation nearby, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It used to be a Sanatorium before Dr. Carlisle Cullen bought it and filled it with criminally insane people. When we passed it the first time I couldn't believe my eyes, it was like a blast from the past. It was grand and beautiful in a creepy way; with bars on the windows and a veranda that used to house tuberculosis patients. There was something dark about the building, as if all the death and pain was soaked into the walls.
Trish Mason walks closer to the building as she says, "Thanks Diane. We're here with owner of the Asylum, Dr. Carlisle Cullen. He's here to set things straight. Now, people were shocked to hear at a press conference earlier today that you hired five teenage boys from around the Quileute Reservation to guard your notorious asylum. Words, Mr. Cullen?"
I didn't notice before but a man was standing within the shadows of the building, as if he couldn't go any further. This must be Carlisle. He holds his arms behind him formally, and his face holds a look of pure contentment. Yet there's something detached about that look that frightens me so. As I gaze into his cold, bottomless eyes I get a sudden feeling of despair that has nothing to do with his Asylum.
"I understand that some people might be on edge about this odd arrangement," Carlisle says in a whispy, haunting voice, "but I trust the Quileute boys fully and know they will prove to be responsible. If people do not like that the boys will be guarding my Asylum then they can suggest whom they think will do a better job. Until then, this is how things will be."
Rosalie snatches the remote from Heidi and presses the off button. The girls stare wanly at the dark screen. A heavy silence that I don't understand fills the air. How does this affect any of us? Sure we might be in slight danger if someone in the Asylum escapes but what were the odds of that? This uncomfortable feeling, it must have to do with Rosalie and Heidi's schemes.
"Well," my sister finally breathes. The girls follow in similar tones.
Heidi says, "Fantastic."
"Now what?" asks Alice.
"Not that he needed anymore press," Jessica sneers.
"What does this have to do with us?" I speak up quietly. All of their heads snap to me, as if they forgot I was here. Slowly their expressions melt, in synchronization as my cheeks grow hotter.
"It's just a silly prank, Bells," my sister answers, her chest heaving with the breath she takes. "You know how it is."
Jessica searches Rosalie's face as if it might tell her what to think. Alice returns to painting her toenails, except she seems distracted—everyone does.
"So, what's on the agenda for this Halloween?" Heidi asks with a smile that said everything-is-perfectly-fine. It was obviously to me that she had taken it upon herself to make sure the evening ran smoothly; meaning, no awkward pauses.
"Mike Newton is having a party; I heard him talking about it today at school! Did he tell you about that, Bella?" Alice asks harmlessly, looking me in the eye for the first time all night.
"Sure, he did," I answer, remembering what Matt said at lunch. He was a nice guy who sat with me sometimes when no one else did. It was hard to concentrate on anything else when I still couldn't figure out what had transpired between the girls and Dr. Cullen that would make them hate him so. Fear, I could understand. He was a powerful man, and that ambition seemed to come from an insidious place. Except my sister's pink little dollop of a mouth was pinched, something it usually only did whenever she saw someone she really despised. "Except his family has a zero alcohol policy so-"
"That idea's out," Rosalie evasively interrupts me. Everyone knew she already had an idea and was just waiting to spill. "Anyone else?"
Jessica puts out her hands to silence everyone and leans forward, "I have an idea!"
"Well, it doesn't matter, because I have a plan so brilliant you're all going to shit yourselves."
As I try to keep from rolling my eyes at all the pointless things my sister has ever said, Heidi stands to go to Rosalie's closet. She starts digging through jeans while Rosalie speaks; explaining details of the party some guy named Edward was throwing. I'm too busy studying Heidi Clarks' perfect frame. Being flawless was a prerequisite for a future model, one I would never acquire.
"Of course, you're welcome to join us, Bella," says Rosalie, calling my attention back to her.
"What?" Positive I heard her wrong. Rosalie's eyes widen as if she's surprised I wasn't following her every word.
"I was hoping you would join us to Edward's party," Her lips curl around the words pleasantly yet her eyes have a sly light. I can't help but wonder whether she's trying to earn my trust so I won't figure out what she's planning. "It's time we showed you our world, little sis'."
Just as I think Heidi's about to start stripping, she turns her heavily lashed eyes on me. "Could I get your help bringing my bags in from your mom's car?"
"Sure," I say quickly. "Not a problem."
Heidi fixes her shirt (more importantly the giant plunge down the front) and then leads the way to our station wagon. The brown, almost red hair at the back of her head is lovely, bouncing slightly. I wonder vaguely how she achieved such perfection in a place she couldn't see.
We reached the garage in no time; making our way across the Oriental rug in our foyer, and through the old-timey kitchen. My mother refused to modernize anything in the house. Our stairs were creaky and chipped. The doorknobs were those old kinds that don't lock. In fact, the only doors in the house that locked were the front, garage, and Rosalie's. The knob turned, and then the door stuck ever so slightly on the threshold. Opening the garage door was always a pain. Heidi struggled, but got it open eventually.
The car sat there, used and sad, with a layer of mud along the bottom. Rosalie had been using it in Seattle, taking it across the canal on the ferry. We went to the trunk to take their bags out and were heading back in when there was a knock at the door. I dropped my bags on the step, startled.
"Who is that?" I muttered, my eyes widening.
"How am I supposed to know?" Heidi asked sharply. I blushed at her rightness. "Are you going to answer it? This is your house, after all."
Clearing my throat, I stepped forward. "Uhm, yeah. That's... exactly what I'm going to do." Slowly I took another step forward until I came to the door, peering through the grimy piece of window.
"Jesus, Bella," Heidi said as they knocked again. "Just open the door!"
Doing as she said, I took a careful step back, waiting as the person walked in. The man's was hidden in the shadow; the only traits to see were his were his large stature and his hair, shaved close to his scalp. For one panicked second, I wondered if he were part of a gang.
"I'm sorry to disturb you," he said, in a kind voice that meant to assure us. I was surprised to hear he wasn't as old as I thought he would be; possibly in his 20's.
"You're not bothering us," Heidi says from behind me, the lilt in her voice somehow more pronounced next to his measured tone.
"I'm J...Jerry Brewer," he says swiftly, not wasting any time. "May I ask your names?"
"This is Bella Swan and I'm," she says with a flourish, "I'm Heidi Clark."
The boy named Jerry nods his head in greeting. "I was only here to tell you, there's been a man sneaking around your house at night. Not sure if you were aware but interfering with privacy by peeping in a window is a federal crime."
Somehow I got the sense he was making a joke, like he was trying hard to make us like him. This rubbed me the wrong way. "Then why didn't you go to the police, Jerry?"
The boy's mouth quirks up, showing in the moonlight, "I get the feeling you girls can handle yourselves."
"Right you are," Heidi says with a smile.
I'm barely paying attention because at that moment, something occurs to me. "Why have you been watching our house?"
There's a long pause in which I can feel the energy shift. When he speaks again, his tone is lighter, almost coy. "You honestly think I sit around all day just to watch your house? No, I've seen him sneaking around at night on my way home from the gym."
"You go to the gym at night?"
He scoffs, twisting the toe of his boot in the dirt. "You're a suspicious one, aren't you, little girl?"
I bristle, my face heating up. "I'm nearly 17, thank you very much, and I'd rather be suspicious than stupid!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, who're you calling stupid?"
Heidi comes over and puts her arm around my shoulders protectively, saying, "Listen, we don't want any trouble, all right? I'm sorry for my friend, here, she has a wild imagination! Thank you for telling us about the peeping tom, I'm sure we can handle it."
The boy's eyes are on me while he says, "Just keep her on a leash."
My mouth drops open as he makes a quick exit. Heidi's laughing and saying, "What a spirit!" but all I can think about is how he just called me a dog.
When we get back to my sister's room, it's surprisingly empty. Rosalie is sitting solemn in bed as Heidi joins her. Jessica and Alice are nowhere to be seen.
"Where are the other girls?" I ask, standing in the doorway.
Rosalie responds to me while looking at Heidi, almost trying to communicate something to her. "They had to attend to business."
The mahogany haired girl is tilting her head to the side innocently, still pretending everything was okay. I didn't trust her. I didn't trust Rosalie, either. There was something they were keeping from me, something that had to do with the Asylum and Jacob Black. Maybe he was the one sneaking around our house? I wondered if I should say anything about it but before I could come to a reasonable conclusion, Rosalie set her notebook down and eyed me carefully.
"I think it's time you left."
My eyebrows rose in defiance, but I knew well enough not to argue with Rosalie. As I left, I threw another look towards Heidi, who's lighting a cigarette. Her eyes snap up to meet mine as she blows out a long puff of smoke, her lips curling into a roguish smile. "Sweet dreams, Bells."