None Shall be Spared
Edward POV
It was cold. Too cold, considering I was covered in a mass of blankets. I turned the light on and glanced towards the window. It was shut, as I expected, and I made a note to buy a few more blankets after school.
I had told my mom the morning after our first night in our new house that the heat was not working right in my room. It had been a little over a week now and she had called the electric company several times to no avail. Each time she called, they sent someone over to have a look, and every time they said it should be working fine.
Yeah. Ok. Whatever you say.
I looked around my new room and groaned. I still had not finished unpacking. I knew it had to be done, but I had been too preoccupied with getting to know Forks, Port Angeles, and the small wood behind my new home.
It was very odd though, because whenever I ventured out into the woods, I felt like I was being watched. The hairs on the back of my neck would stick up several times. I do not really consider myself cowardly, but every time it happened I would turn back towards the house, picking up my pace as I moved through the woods. Once I could have sworn that I had seen a flash of long brown hair off in the distance, and another time I had seen a glimmer of light through the leaves as they fluttered in the light breeze, reflected off of a piece of glass.
But why would there be glass in the middle of the woods?
And supposedly there aren't usually bears in the woods this close to town, at this time of year.
And bears did not have long brown hair!
I peeled back the layers of blankets and went over to my closet, pulled on another sweater and an extra pair of sweat pants, then climbed back into bed, hoping that I would be able to get some more sleep. Tomorrow would be my first day at Forks High.
Lovely.
My father got a new job in Port Angeles, and my mother decided she wanted to live in Forks, where the houses were larger but less expensive. I missed Chicago already, and we had only been here a little over a week, and I was appalled by the lack of activities that Forks offered the teenage population. It's November, middle of the semester, and my senior year, not exactly the best time to transfer schools.
I had practically begged my parents to wait until September of next year, when I would hopefully be starting at Dartmouth, but my father received an offer he could not refuse. Supervising a cancer research lab in Port Angeles was an opportunity he couldn't pass up, which I only realized after the embarrassing begging episode. I quickly acquiesced, and apologized for my short and quick childish outburst.
After mulling over the circumstances of our move, and facing my first day at a new school, I gave up trying to fall back to sleep. I got up and went over to my keyboard, since my piano had yet to be delivered.
Stupid delivery men and their stupid insurance policies.
The delivery service we had used to move our belongings from Chicago to Forks did not cover items like baby grand pianos. And so we had to wait while a company specializing in the transfer of heavy music equipment shipped it. My dad nearly fainted when he saw the bill.
Jerks.
I glanced at the clock before I flipped the switch on the keyboard. 5 am. I still had time to relax before I need to begin getting ready for school. Playing piano usually relaxes me, but I had been extremely restless since we had moved to Forks. Maybe it was the cold humidity, or the lack of fun things to do, or maybe it was just that I was dreading having to face a whole new school filled with people I would only get to know for nine or ten months.
Whatever the reason, I had a funny feeling about Forks.
Bella POV
I managed to shut his window a moment before he woke up, and leapt off of the tree next to it and sprinted nto the forest the next. I had been playing this silly stalking game for the past nine days.
Stupid pixie!
Two years ago my family and I had moved to the tiny town of Forks, Washington at Alice's insistence. She had seen something that was very important, that we needed to be in Forks in a few years, and we all agreed, knowing not to doubt Alice.
Nine days ago the damn pixie finally told us why we needed to move to Forks. Because of Edward.
Edward was apparently my soul mate. He also happened to be a human. Awesome.
Naturally I was curious, so I ran to the address Alice had given me that night and had a peek in the window.
I felt like the breath had been knocked out of me.
And it felt uncomfortable even though I did not need to breathe. I climbed through his window and sat on the ledge. Alice had warned me that his sent would be…potent… and I decided he would be safer if I stayed on the window sill. If I came further into the room, something bad would probably happen, and Rosalie would kill me.
Rosalie was Livid already. It would do no good to make it worse.
I sat and admired the chiseled line of his jaw, the smooth slope of his forehead, the crease in his brow as he dreamed….
Yes, I had to agree with Alice. This boy was my soul mate.
I felt it instantly, the need to protect this boy from any kind of future with me and it was more important than anything else. A future with me could only play out one way. I would not damn him to this life.
But then I kept coming back every night. I was disgusted with myself.
I have been a vampire for over 600 years. My human memories are dim, and I do not know my exact age. Carlisle has estimated that I was 17 or 18 when I was changed. I only remember waking up in Florence, not knowing why or how I came to be plagued with this existence. I had unclear memories about a woman's face, who I suspected must have been my mother, and flashes of a pair of red eyes staring at me from the darkness, quickly coming closer until they were upon me...
I lived with the Volturi for 400 years. Aro valued my talents considerably, and my robes were darker than Jane's, almost as dark as the three, which made Jane resent me immensely.
I did not adhere to their diet. Every time I tried I saw my mother's face instead of those of my potential victims.
Everyone thought my choice was ridiculous, but I did not care.
When I met Carlisle I was filled with joy. Finally there was another like me, and we left Volterra for America, The New World. Aro and Caius asked me to stay several times, but I could not stand it any longer, and I knew that leaving with Carlisle was the right choice.
It was difficult at first because people would assume that Carlisle was my husband or that we were somehow romantically involved. Neither of us had ever thought of the other like that, and we had a few laughs talking about the gossip that would make us have to travel to a new place after so short a time.
I was so happy when Carlisle found Esme. Esme reminded me of my mother and I finally felt like I had a family. She made things much easier because she could introduce herself as Mrs. Cullen. It wasn't long before we found Rosalie and Emmett. Soon after that Alice and Jasper found us. I stayed single through it all. It's not easy sharing a home with three perfectly matched couples. But I endured it. I love all of them. They are my family.
I arrived back at the house five minutes later to find them all waiting for me, sitting around Esme's beautiful, antique table, in the dining room. It was just for show, since we never ate in the house.
She was the first to speak, "Bella, I know you are apprehensive about this-"
I cut her off. "I will not kill him."
And I went to my room.
My family was extremely excited that I had found my mate. Ok. Most of my family was excited. Rosalie, of course, had her reasons for objecting to this news, and she tried to keep it to herself, assuming that I would never attempt to get close to a human, but then I began visiting his windowsill every night.
There was a banging on the door and I immediately knew who it was. "Go away, Alice."
"No." she answered simply as she broke the handle on my door and stepped into my room.
"You better fix that." Esme called from downstairs.
Alice sat on the edge of my couch, as played with the lacy hem of her skirt. "I know you are upset," she began, "but you have to understand. There is nothing you can do to change this. His future is either death or becoming part of our family."
My eyes widened at her words, "I can't do it Alice. I can't take someone's soul."
"Enough with this soul crap." Alice snapped. "You are so stubborn. You have a soul. We all have souls. As long as you are on this earth thinking and caring and loving you are proving the existence of your soul."
"I have an outfit for you, by the way." She gestured towards my dresser and I groaned.
"Why do you do this to me? I don't want to wear designer clothes! I just want to be comfortable." I complained. I knew it was childish of me, but I figured that since Carlisle said I was a teenager when I was changed, I might as well act like one while I go through high school for the twenty second time, I did not want anyone to get suspicious, after all
"Don't worry. I learned my lesson last time. It's just Jeans and a sweater." Alice sighed.
"I know it saddens you, that I don't share your interest in fashion."
Alice cut me off, "Bella, I love you and don't give a rat's ass what you wear, especially now…." But she trailed off. I didn't push her. Anything that had her looking that sad wasn't anything that I wanted to know about, and I knew that if it was terribly important then she would have come right out and said it, instead of holding back.
"I'll see you downstairs," she said as she leaned over and kissed my check lightly, and then bounced out of the room.