Prologue

First, a warning

My story will not have a happy ending. No warm feelings of justice will be felt. No sense of peace will be given. None of the typical feelings of closure that normally accompany resolutions such as these will be had. When the truth will be revealed, more questions will be asked then answered. Like, how could this happen to such a nice girl? What kind of family could do all this? What happened to the once peaceful town of Rivers Falls?

My story will not have a happing end. If that were true, then I would be alive, married and have children of my own. Instead, I am dead at eighteen. I never went to prom; or got to walk down the aisle at graduation. I never went to college or did any of the activities that comprise an adult life. I will never get to see my parents again or my baby sister, Bella. She's the one I feel sorry for most of all. It will be her that will bear the brunt of my actions, feel the pain of my poor choices, and ultimately, she'll be the one that will have to live with my truth.

My story will not have a happy ending. The town that I once called home will be destroyed; its secrets revealed for all the world to see. Families will be torn apart, and friends will be at odds with each other. Traditions and ritual will fall by the waste side. Death again will come to this sleepy little town. No one will ever be the same again.

My story will not have a happy ending. The only solace that I feel is that at least I got to feel what it meant to fall in love. But, loving me will be tragic for all involved. Everyone will remember the name Alice Swan. A name that will be what urban legend are made of. A name that will come to be synonymous with sadness and pain. Oh yes, I will be remembered.

My story will not have a happy ending. I write this, in the hopes that my story will serve as a cautionary tale. That through my pain and mistakes other can learn, and hopeful avoid doing some of the things that I have done. I can not say that I have come to regret my decisions, no certainly not all of them. I do regret shutting my family and friends out and not allowing them to help me. I can not help but think that had I simply let someone else in then all of this could have been avoided. It's too late for me now I know this. My desire is that by reading my story it will save some other from the same tragic end that I meet. If this does help, then my life and death did have a purpose.

I close this with a final warning. My story will not have a happy ending.