Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, or that silver box. :( No, I'm not going to be a terrorist, it just feels pretty fun. Haha. I'm not going to kill anyone, chill. XD
Anyway, on with the story!
(Bella's POV)
I continued sitting on the grass, still as a stone. No, not exactly stone. I was blinking my eyes and breathing, and my heart was beating – rapidly, I might add. Only my limbs were not moving – I was waiting for someone to come (which was 99.99% impossible, but I was stupid enough anyway) and navigate the way.
I wanted to sleep, but I was scared. This place freaked me out – the surrounding trees were spooky enough, and it was cold, but I didn't have a jacket, so I decided for wrapping my arms around my knees. Plus, it was so dark – the stars only provided a dim light but I could barely find my way around. I did not want to risk a fall after all, and it happened to be a new moon today.
Very fortunate.
And to make matters worse, my head was aching again – like I'd been thinking too hard. Maybe I did, subconsciously, but I still wanted badly to find my way out. I couldn't bear to live in a desolate forest with crevices for the rest of my life, or just a few days – how was I supposed to survive here alone?
I didn't even remember how I looked like. Sweet.
I tried resting my back against the tree, and though the bark was rather rough, it actually felt nice – having something to support my back instead of me making a failed attempt to do that.
I almost dozed off in the middle of the forest when I heard an angelic voice, soft as dulcet, greet me. Well… The 0.01% chance might really work. Who knows?
"Um, hi." I replied, hoping he knew his way around in this crazy maze of a freaking forest.
"Are you lost?" he asked. I wanted to nod my head vehemently, but I decided against it, just in case he thought I was crazy. Plus, he looked inhumanly beautiful – I could make out his perfect figure in the dark, and his glistening golden eyes as well as the bronze hair which I could see under the dim starlight. He had the face of a seraph, but I could sense a weird aura around him – my instincts screamed at me to run away, but I ignored it, because I needed, desperately, to get out of this deserted place.
"…Yes," I settled for whispering. I stood up with the silver box in hand. I decided to give it a shot and ask. "Do you… know the way around?"
He pursed his lips for a moment, and answered, "Yes, I do." He turned away, as if he was thinking deeply. "Where are your parents?"
That word didn't ring a bell. "What parents?" I blurted out bluntly.
He sighed softly. "Follow me." I acted on impulse and I did, trying to ignore the screaming instincts. He didn't look that dangerous, or like a schizophrenic pedophile (where did I get that from?), so I followed him all the way to a mansion in the middle of the forest. Whoa, I wasn't expecting that there were people living in the middle of a desolate forest surrounded by trees…
Before we entered, he asked, "So, what's your name?"
I could remember that. "Bella." I hoped I got my name correct. "Yours?"
"Edward. I'll take you to meet my family." I nodded, even though I didn't really know what the heck a family was.
(Edward's POV)
I was frustrated, of course – I couldn't get into her head at all, but I was morbidly curious, so I decided to take her back to the house – Alice might know something.
She didn't look nervous or panicky as we were outside the door – her eyes were, instead, blank.
I opened the door, and hoped Rosalie wouldn't get too melodramatic about having a child, as she would say, to take care of. Bella looked like she was 13, and she was already a teenager – was that even considered a kid? And hopefully, Emmett wouldn't scare the blinking hell out of her – I wanted to know more about her. It was as though I had a sudden attraction to her, which was weird – I thought I was called a recluse. And if Jasper killed her… Damn, that'd suck big time. Plus, that silver box with her name engraved on it seemed pretty interesting – but of course it'd be an invasion of privacy if I opened it without permission. That was not how the manners were taught in the 1900s, anyway.
Alice already opened the door before I could even touch the doorknob. "Hi Edward!" the little pixie radiated nothing but enthusiasm. Okay, so she was my favorite sister, but she annoyed me occasionally when she got too exuberant for my liking. Or maybe it was just due to my pessimism, that I didn't like her happiness. "Hi!" She said to Bella, knowing better than to call her by her name – I didn't feel like telling a mere human our secret – the fact that we were vampires, the ones that drank blood, only we Cullens drank from animals.
And yes, we were sworn enemies of vampire slayers and werewolves. Frankly speaking, I didn't really care about werewolves, since they could change their forms and they stank, but vampire slayers were asking for trouble when they fought against vampires who drank human blood, because they had human blood running in their veins, and they didn't reek like the wolves did. So they were obviously trying to lure vampires to them – some were extra strong and they could kill vampires, but the weak ones could've just died when a vampire that drank from humans was on a hunting spree or just plain thirsty for blood – like a mad scavenge.
Bella followed me inside, her eyes still blank. Dang, this girl was weird.
"Don't tell her that we're vampires," I whispered, too low and quick for Bella's human ears to catch. Jasper and Emmett were looking at me as though I'd just gone insane – which they were thinking, while Carlisle's thoughts were filled with curiosity and concern. Esme could only think of caring for Bella, which was nothing out of the ordinary – she was the epitome of love. Rosalie's thoughts were exceptionally filled with sympathy and concern – pretty unusual, but it was expected. And Alice… That crazy pixie needed to know how to control her happiness when her husband was in a state of shock.
(Bella's POV)
Everyone was drop-dead gorgeous like Edward. Well, I was glad that he'd brought me here – it felt nice to see the light instead of residing in a dark forest. The starlight most definitely did not help in navigation, damn. (A/N: If you watch/read Shugo Chara!, then you'll know that Amu has a skill called Starlight Navigation when she character transforms into Amulet Diamond. XD Though, I still think Utau transforming with Dia is the best.)
"Um, hi, my name's Bella." I said, abashed. I didn't make eye contact with them at all, but I did know that they were insanely attractive. Physically speaking, that is.
"Hello, my name's Esme." I looked up and realized that it was the caramel-haired woman who spoke first, followed by the blonde, Rosalie, and the jumping pixie, as I called her in my head, Alice. My instincts still didn't shut up, which annoyed me to no end.
Next, the guys introduced themselves to me. The blonde guy was Carlisle – probably the head of the family. The big grizzly bear (not literally, but you get my drift) with crazy biceps was called Emmett, and the other blonde who was biting his lips every now and then, and who looked like he was in pain (like what the hell did I do? Shove an iron down his throat. Very funny) was called Jasper.
Why did my instincts keep screaming dangerous? It was getting louder by the second, but my perfect façade didn't ruin my expression – I swear I wasn't going to clutch my head suddenly and kneel on the ground groveling because of the mental screaming my instincts did. The only thing that kept me morbidly curious was that they were all very fine-looking, with extremely pale skin and dark circles under their eyes. They all had golden eyes too, which was absolutely mind-boggling. Was that even genetically possible? Maybe silver irises and yellow irises could make that. Wait, it was even genetically impossible from the start to have silver and yellow irises. I didn't even know the color of my irises anyway.
I yawned lightly, feeling a little exhausted from all the hoping in the dark just now. I mean, mentally, I was exhausted, but physically, I felt rather alright. Very funny.
I could've sworn that their eyes were all inquisitive, but Esme just said, "I think you're tired. Why don't you go to sleep first? We can talk tomorrow." Then she'd smiled. "Why don't you sleep in Edward's room for the day?" Heck, didn't Edward have to sleep? Oh yeah, plus how did he know where to find me in the middle of the night? I looked at the clock, and it read 3am in the morning. Wow. Sweet. Why was he roaming the forests in the middle of the night? Oh yes, and why the hell was everyone wide awake at 3am? Did they have, like, chronic insomnia or something of the sort? Or did they happen to be nocturnal?
"Okay. Thanks," I replied, grateful for giving me someplace to sleep anyway. I went up with Edward to his room, not forgetting the silver box – it felt important to me somehow, since it the only thing I found that was mine (since it had my name engraved on it) when I woke up in that forest. He didn't seem to mind, or maybe it was just due to the fact he had a good semblance, that I was sleeping in his room. Well, I could sleep on the floor – I didn't mind.
His room was beautifully furnished too – stacks of CDs, a keyboard, a violin and other things related to music all organized neatly in a corner, with a black velvet couch and a brown bed that looked very warm and welcoming. There was a computer and a television, and a CD player too – was that what those things were called? I didn't know, but I didn't bother to ask anyway. The walls were painted a light blue, and there was a balcony as well as glass windows. To sum it all up, this family really was… rich. Wait, that was an understatement, but I couldn't think of a better word at the moment.
"Um…" I began. "I'll sleep on the floor. I don't think it'd be very nice of me to occupy your sleeping space."
He smirked. "I don't use it often." He smiled a crooked smile, with a hint of playfulness in his eyes. "Insomnia, you know? Caffeine and everything. I don't take sleeping pills, so it's perfectly fine." Just like I'd suspected.
"So the rest of your family has insomnia too?" I blurted out inadvertently. Oops. I hope that didn't make him feel offended.
He grinned. "Sort of." Right. Probably due to heredity, I guess.
"Um… Then… I guess I'll go and sleep now." I muttered, wondering where to leave my silver box.
"Sure." He smiled, and added, "You can leave your box on the table, too."
Could I trust him? Maybe.
"Uhh…" I muttered, trying to think of some excuse. "It's okay, I'll leave it on the bed." I didn't want anyone intruding into my own things. Fact was, I didn't really know what those weapons were for, but whatever, better to be safe than sorry. It felt instinctive somehow – and this time, I decided to obey my instincts.
He shrugged. "Sure."
I placed it beside me, and laid down, before falling into a deep slumber, finally finding peace.
(Edward's POV)
Reading Carlisle's books about medicine out of pure boredom did help – I was glad that I managed to come up with those insomnia lines, instead of having to reveal our true nature of drinking blood to her. Right. She'd be freaking out if she had read Dracula before to find out that it was not a myth, but the truth. Only people liked to think that their theories were right (excluding vampire slayers and werewolves, of course) and that vampires were just some horror characters that appeared in the nightmares of little kids, and that they were making good impressions of vampires with plastic fangs coated in red paint or whatever substance that red coating was, and pointy black capes on Halloween. Seriously, where on earth did they learn that vampires wore those silly clothes? Sesame Street or whatever that show was called?
Alice started up a conversation in her head. I can't see her, Edward. And Jasper can't feel her either.
That shocked me and pulled me out of thinking about the lameness of Halloween. What? She would've been able to see my answer. That was crazy. There were only two possible reasons that Alice couldn't see her – one, she was a vampire slayer or a werewolf, or possibly a half-breed – a mix between a human and vampire, or human and vampire slayer, and the list goes on. Since Alice had never been a vampire slayer or a werewolf or a half-breed before, she would not be able to see those creatures. Or secondly, Bella was an exceptionally strong mental and physical shield – which might be possible, since Jasper couldn't feel her and his powers were physical. Or maybe she really was blank the entire time just now. I didn't continue with the mental conversation, and I managed to get out of everyone's heads too – just to immerse myself into my own speculations.
Bella started murmuring something incoherent in her sleep, which made me smile a little. And then I thought back to just now – she had actually asked me, "What parents?" That didn't really make sense, unless she was suffering a major case of amnesia, which I was speculating now.
I wanted so badly to open that silver box – it looked pretty big, about half of Bella's height. (A/N: Let's say Bella is somewhere around 5 feet 2 inches, so the bow is about 31 inches, the sword is about 29 inches, and the gun is about 6 to 8 inches. Then inside the box, there're some chains and ammunition and arrows, plus a whole bunch of vampire slaying weapons) I wanted to open it very badly – to the point of desperation, I might say, but that wouldn't be very nice, so I settled for watching her sleep peacefully.
All I could say was, Bella was weird. Wait, I am weird too, after all.
(Bella's POV)
I was dreaming…
Someone was shooting with the gun in the silver gun, with the chains dangling around her wrists. She was wearing a pair of black leather gloves.
Was that me, or just someone else?
I guess I needed to find out how I looked like.
I could suddenly remember the Japanese words for the perfect description – kagami no omokage. Mirror's reflection. (A/N: Sorry if I get the translation wrong. :l)
How ironic, when I didn't even know the meaning of parents and family.
So Bella's left Edward morbidly curious, and Edward think she's weird, while Bella's instincts are screaming dangerous. She's totally forgotten that she's a vampire slayer. Haha. I'm so evil.
I hope I didn't put any love at first sight parts subconsciously inside... :l
Song for this chapter: Meikyuu Butterfly by Nana Mizuki (Utau Hoshina)
I'll try and get Chapter 3 up soon, and I hoped you enjoyed this. :) I hope I don't suck totally at writing in an amnesiac's point of view... :l
Review please! :D
