Hello everyone!

I want to say first off that I'm very glad of the respose just the preface received! Favorites and alerts keep popping up in my email and I'm like, "O.o? Are you kidding me? (not that I object) Only the preface is up and you guys are already favoriting! Eeeep!" I love all you awesome reviewers/favoriters/alerters/readers! You guys make this thing worth writing.

So, this is the first chapter of a rather long journey. I've actually had it written for a few days, but I had to wait for my co-author to return from Africa (she had a great time by the way) and then I had to practically force her to edit because she was complaining about our rigorous school schedule (three days into school, and I've already had a quiz. -_-) Hope everyone who started school had a good start, I know I did!

Hope the chapter helps let you de-stress from school! I know it helps me (especially since I'm delaying AP History homework... heehee)

Keep Reading! Reviews are wanted and graciously accepted with squeals of happiness. ^_^

-TG

Oh, P.S. I mentioned some things from Alice's letter in the epilogue, so I included Alice's letter at the beginning of the chapter. This way, you don't have to look back!


Previously in "The Witness:"

My Bella,

I want you to know that I love you so much, and I always will. For all of eternity, I'll never forget you. You are my sister and my best friend. That will never change, even when we're apart.

You should know that I am alive and happy and in love with the best man in the world- in the universe. Now I know what you're thinking: And- No -I didn't run off and get married in Vegas like some small-town girl. (And I'm not pregnant either) This is so much more than that... I can't even explain it. This is just where I'm meant to be.

What's happened to me I can't say, but I know I'd never want this for you. I'd never want to hurt you like this, and I promise that I never will. I'm looking at my curse as a blessing as much as I can, but I regret every day that I can never see you again. And that's just it- I can never see you again. I know this is hard, because it's killing me to write this. You can never come looking for me, no matter how much you want to see me or I want to see you.

Speaking of me "seeing you", you should know that my "gift" is stronger than ever. I will know if you try to find me, so don't. I'm watching you and looking out for you. Since it's the best I can do, I'll be your guardian angel. I will never let anything happen to you, if I can help it. (And I can)

I've left this note along with the outfit that I got for you so long ago. I hope you knock 'em dead! You are so beautiful that I don't think anyone will be able to resist you.

Your best friend and sister for life,,

Alice

P.S. Take care of Charlotte for me. I miss her too, but not a fraction of how much I miss you

Chapter 1- Leaving

Bella POV

I supposed that speeding at 25 miles over the given speed limit towards home in a huge, blatantly conspicuous red truck was not the smartest thing I could've have been doing on the first day of sophomore year. This was especially stupid considering the horrible guilt gnawing at me from the inside due to the fact that I had never sped more than five miles over the speed limit in my life. Well, I'll admit, I had only turned sixteen two weeks ago, so that wasn't saying much. Still, the completely noticeable nature of my car added to the fact that I was a brand new and previously law-abiding driver seems to just scream "pull me over, pull me over!". Yeah, this was definitely a stupid idea. Right now I could- and should- be at school, spending my sophomore year working hard to get good grades and hopefully get into a college without requiring my parents to make an "anonymous" donation of an incomprehensible amount of money. But, despite all of my trepidation, I knew it was way too late to turn back now. I was too far gone to even considering playing ignorant to what had happened at school. Alice's note, crinkled from my frequent folding and unfolding as the urge to read it emerged regularly, felt like it would burn a hole where it rested in my pocket. I was constantly aware of where it was. No, I thought, reminded of the letter. There's no turning back from here.

I went over the note in my mind, having memorized it already, trying to find some deeper meaning behind her words. I thought about the wonderful man she mentioned, wondering if she had known she would meet this guy all along. Maybe she had abandoned me knowing that she would find the love of her life in the process. I shook my head. That didn't sound at all like Alice. Alice hadn't believed in the kind of love you see in movies and read in books, completely unlike me. I was completely obsessed with romance; at least, the kind that I read in books, like Wuthering Heights and Austen's stories. Alice hadn't been like that, so it surprised me to hear that she classified herself as having found the love of her life, while being above clichéd small-town romance. She had said it herself: she was where she was meant to be. I shook my head again. It didn't fit. Before she had left, Alice had said that she was meant to be wherever I was. I was all that had really mattered to her. I supposed that I had to share that place in Alice's heart now. I wasn't angry with Alice or jealous of the mystery man, but I just didn't understand the rest of her letter. What had she meant by her "curse?" If her man was so amazing, why did she have to hurt herself to be with him? None of this made sense. That was exactly why I had to find Alice. I just had to know that she was OK. I had to be with her, to confirm what her letter had already told me; that she was alive and happy. I could only hope that my presence in her life again would make her as happy as it would make me.

I swerved through the wide streets of my neighborhood, not noticing the huge, elaborate mansions as they passed by every few seconds. Finally, I pulled up to one of the largest houses in the neighborhood; the ridiculously enormous brick estate that I had lived in for the past eight years. For a moment I was about to pull into the front drive way that circled around past the front door. Then, realizing my dilemma, I circled around the house until I approached the drive way that led to the back of the house and the garage. I parked my truck exactly where it had been only a few hours ago, looking around to see if the limo was still in its place. I supposed that today was my lucky day because it appeared my parents were out—although, this wasn't exactly a rare occurrence. My parents were always out. I never thought my parents' social lives would ever be so critically important to finding Alice. I turned away from the cars, darting into the house. I ran up the back staircase, but, the moment my foot reached for the staircase, I tripped. I fell on my hands, avoiding hitting my head against the unforgiving surface of the hardwood stairs. I pulled myself up, shaking my head. Only I could trip upstairs. I feared this part more than the rest of my whole journey—the trip upstairs. If I couldn't get past the second step without tripping, I obviously couldn't make it up three stories worth of stairs. I'm surprised my parents hadn't installed an elevator for me yet. Well, it was too late for that now. This was hopefully the last time I would have to climb these godforsaken stairs.

I finally made it to the third floor, though I had tripped three more times in the process. As soon as I made it to my room, I grabbed an old duffel bag out of my closet, throwing any clothes I saw in the process—all dirty clothes, I might add. The whole rebellious teenager washing her own clothes thing was certainly coming back to bite me today. I threw my bag of toiletries on the top, grabbed a bobby pin, and left my room. I ran a little ways down the hallway until I was at Alice's door. I gulped a little, not having entered this room in a year. It was probably covered in an inch thick layer of dust after being neglected for so long. That was my fault. I should have taken care of it better, even if my mother didn't want me to go in that room. I shook my head, and picked the lock silently. When I finally got in the room, I was almost surprised that it hadn't changed a bit since the last I had been in here. I looked at the huge stack of boxes in the corner, noting that the third box on the middle row was half-open just like I had left it. I walked over to that box, reaching in until I found one of Alice's many purses. Unlike her other purses, this one was important to me. I didn't bother searching through it, instead throwing it over my shoulder. I made for the door, but stopped. For one last time, I reached into the box, drawing out a silver picture frame with Alice's and my picture in it. I tucked the picture frame into the pocket of my duffel bag and left the room, not bothering to close the door behind me.

When I finally made it downstairs, this time being more careful since falling down three flights of stairs was not what I needed right now, I encountered a dilemma. When my mother found out I was missing, she would call the police. They would search for me, tell other police to search for me, and they would probably find me. No one could find me. Deciding what to do quickly, I went to the study. I grabbed some stationary out of one of the cabinets over my mother's desk. I thought for a moment about what to write before writing the first thing that came to mind. It had to be something that would truly make her let me leave without interference. I looked over it one last time, reading it to make sure it was sufficient.

Mom,

I'm leaving. I'm sorry I can't say goodbye, but I had to go. You know how unhappy I've been for the past two years, and staying in this house is not going to help. I love you, mom, but I can't go on like this anymore. I'll be fine, so please don't try to find me. Just know I'll be so much happier once I'm away from this city. Please, just let me go.

Bella

I sighed, sealing the letter in the envelope. As a last minute thought, I went over to my father's desk, opening one of the bottom cabinets to reveal a safe. I rolled the lock until I met the corresponding numbers of the combination. It opened, revealing a few important documents, my father's expensive watches, and what I was in need for; stacks and stacks of money. There was so much money here that I doubted my father would miss it very much. Besides, I needed it more than he did. I grabbed two stacks of it, estimating high. All I new was that it had to be a lot of money because each bill in the stack was a hundred dollar bill. I didn't look at the money, afraid of how much was actually in my hand. I stuffed the money into the bottom of Alice's purse, noting that there was a can of pepper spray there as well. I laughed at the irony—a sixteen year old girl with thousands of dollars in her purse? Yeah, I might need to use that can.

Before I left, I saw a notebook on the side of my mother's desk. I flipped through the pages, noticing that there was nothing written inside. I grabbed a pen and took the notebook, deciding that, if nothing else, doodling could keep me occupied when I wasn't driving. I put those in my bag as well, and figured I was finally ready to go. I left my mother's note on the coffee table in the living room and went back out the door to the garage. I walked through the garage to the very corner, bypassing my truck completely. This would have to be goodbye for my truck and me. It had been one of the rare gifts that I actually liked, though it was over extravagant in my opinion. While I would miss it, it was three things I did not need; blatantly conspicuous (as previously mentioned), huge, and not at all gas efficient. I needed something that wouldn't guzzle gas like my big red monster.

I put my hand the rough fabric of the cover, almost afraid to see what condition Alice's car was in, like I had been with her room. I pulled it off quickly, like ripping off a band-aid. I sighed in relief when Alice's car hadn't changed either. It was dim in the garage, and there was probably some accumulated dust covering it, but I was sure that once I got it out of here it would look just as glossy and fast as ever. I gulped a little. I supposed that if I wanted to get anywhere quickly, I would have to drive fast. While this car was more than adequate when it came to driving fast, I, on the other hand, was not. I hated driving fast. I was a martinet when it came to driving laws. Nevertheless, I fished the keys from Alice's purse, certain that they hadn't been taken from the purse since we had found it in the trunk of her car.

I tested the button on the key, making sure that it unlocked before I opened the driver's side door. When I sat down, I was taken back a little. I actually had to adjust the seat back a lot to fit my legs under the steering wheel, which surprised me. Had Alice actually been that short? I was average height, but I had always remembered Alice as being taller than me. I suppose since it had been two years since I had been next to her, and whenever I had been with her she had been wearing those gigantic heels that made me trip just looking at them. Now, however, it seemed that I would look down at her even if she did wear heels. I shook my head at my wandering thoughts and threw my duffel bag and Alice's purse in the passenger seat. When I started the car, the engine's low hum came out as a purr, though I'm sure someone as lacking in car knowledge as I probably couldn't appreciate it like a car savvy person could.

I released the emergency brake and waited, testing my limits. I hesitantly put my foot on the break and switched gears, almost expecting the car to eject me from the driver's seat, as if only Alice could ever drive this car. Then I lifted my foot off the brake slowly, sighing with relief when it moved slowly in reverse towards the open door of the garage. When I curved out of the garage until I was facing out of the driveway, I hit a button on the visor signaling the garage door to close. I couldn't have my parents automatically suspicious when they returned home, could I? I sat for a few seconds, silently wondering why I was having so much trouble comprehending driving Alice's car. I shook my head, and finally just slammed the gas pedal. I lurched forward, panicking as I realized the reaction time of this little thing. Luckily, our driveway was plenty long enough to give me room to stop. Sighing, I nudged the pedal down and pulled out of the drive way. Finally telling myself that this car wasn't alive and therefore would not have the power to know who I was or how wrong it was for me to be driving it, I finally became comfortable enough to drive.

As I pulled out of the neighborhood and onto the main road, I could sense a lurking sense of hopelessness creeping up on me. I slowed down to the speed limit as my body stiffened; the hopelessness almost had me. If another second of this feeling passed, I'd have to pull over. I waited for a few seconds, my hands gripping the steering wheel until the knuckles turned white. Finally, unable to take it anymore, I pulled onto the side of the road. I didn't have the radio on, so, once the car was stopped, the only sound was the rushing of cars as they passed me and my shallow breaths. Normally, I would put my head between my knees when I felt something close to anxiety, but this time there was a steering wheel in my way. I rested my head on the wheel and worked on keeping my breaths slow and even. Finally, once my mini anxiety attack seemed to settle down, I was able to think about what had caused the hopeless feeling in the first place.

The accusing questions in my mind emerged: What did I think I was doing? Was I crazy enough to actually believe I could honestly find my sister based off only a very uninformative letter—well, I suppose that was a lie. Alice's letter had told me the most important thing it could have possibly revealed; the fact that Alice was alive. It had also told me that she was in love and that she had some curse that I knew practically nothing about and also that I wasn't allowed to go looking for her (A little detail I had purposefully chosen to ignore). Still, despite all the nice tidbits about Alice I had acquired with her letter, I had not received the second most consequential thing (the first being the fact she was actually alive) I could have discovered. And that was where exactly I could find Alice. In truth, I didn't even need exact location or coordinates. I would have settled for a clue or even a state—any indication that I could follow instead of walking blindly into this. The fact of the matter - I had a one in a million chance of finding Alice. She could've been anywhere when she had written that letter. Who knows where she could be now? I thought about that, knowing there was no way to know where Alice was and knowing there was no way to let Alice know I was looking for her… I blinked in shock, the light bulb practically emerging over my head and shedding its insight onto my dampened thoughts. A particular line in Alice's note replayed in my mind; I will know if you try to find me. A hint of a smile played at the corner of my lips as I realized what that meant. I might not know where Alice was, but she would know I was looking for her. I grinned now, confident with my plan. As long as she knew I was looking for her, it wouldn't be too long until she would have to do something to stray my useless wandering. So, in theory, all I had to do was amble around the country wherever I pleased until Alice felt the need to step in. Of course, it would only help speed up the process if I were to run into a little trouble along the way…

I chuckled deviously and unzipped my duffel bag, taking out the notebook and pen I had stashed away inside. I rested the notebook on the steering wheel and flipped it open to the first empty page, thinking about what I would write. Placing the pen point on the blank, lined piece of paper, I wrote only five words:

Alice-

I'm coming for you.


Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I don't know how long it will take for the next chapter. I have everything pretty much mapped out in my mind, but I need to discuss some major plot points with Alex, the co-author! I'll update as soon as possible, I promise.