Bella.

To most, the sun was the logic and perfection of a beautiful day. It provided light, warmth and joy upon the world. It was a key factor in the lives of many, as it effected their days quite frequently. The sun could make or break a good mood, a good day, a good celebration, a good anything. It was very rare that you find someone who detested it's presence. Normal people enjoyed the sun's company. Then again, I have never been normal.

My eyes continued to stare up at the blazing, blinding object that sat perched high and mighty in the cyan colored sky. It was taunting me; pouring light among the dark-clothed people that surrounded me. I was positive that if I kept my gaze much longer, I was going to lose my eyesight, but I didn't pull my eyes away. I was looking further past the sun. I was trying to find any trace of a heaven .. any trace of the powerful being I have been taught to believe in. I have never done this before. It was always second nature for me to trust my beliefs, but now, I held nothing in my heart but doubt. If there was a God, why was he doing this to me?

A sharp yet defined cry pulled me out of my staring contest. Though my vision was momentarily tainted from the sunlight, I could visibly see one of my female cousin's hunched over the wooden casket that sat before us. Her body was shaking, and her small fists were pounding lightly against the texture of the wood. My heart jerked frantically. Knock louder, I wanted to scream. Knock louder, and wake him out of his death! I gulped down my sob, and quickly turned away from my cousin. My eyes caught the framed picture that sat on a pedestal next to a mass array of colorful flowers.

He was smiling happily up at me, like he was still here, still gracing me with his presence, still taking care of me. The sun shifted in the sky, causing a glare to appear on the picture from the glass on the frame. I scowled, and stepped closer to erase it. It really was taunting me. I kept my eyes glued to the picture, breathing in the image. I noticed a small scar on his jaw, and my lips twitched at the corner as the memory of him accidentally hitting himself in the face with a sparkler filled my head. It had been my eleventh birthday party, and I was upset because nobody had shown up. He began playing with the sparklers; throwing them and trying desperately to make me laugh. Unfortunately, as he attempted to catch the unlit end with his teeth, he caught the sparking end with his chin instead. I had fun trying not to laugh as he explained the story to the doctors in the emergency room later that night.

Every piece of his face held a memory close to my heart. Every memory would become a piece of my heart now. He wasn't my father, but he was the closest thing to one that I had. Biologically, he was my uncle, Thomas Swan. He was a 48 year old body guard at the local amphitheatre. He was a Virgo. He had never been married. He liked to play hockey. He liked to read. He was considered a nice friend, a good neighbor, and a great man. But in my heart, he was .. everything. He was my rock. He was my best friend. He was my father. He was the only thing I had left.

I had been sent to live with Uncle Tommy a few short months after Edward and Alice left me at Lasseter Hills. Apparently, orphanages didn't work like the movies anymore. After I stepped into the building with nothing but the matchbox car and necklace that Edward had given me, they grew suspicious. Only a few minutes later, I was escorted to the police station by a nice officer whose name I do not recall. I had told them as much as I knew at the time, but left out the details of the "bad guys", as I referred them to. A few simple DNA tests, and background checks confirmed my identity, and closed the case of the missing child from the scene of the accident in Italy. To the rest of the world on that day, the "accident" had been the explosion of a tourist bus, causing the death of around twenty, including my parents. But to me, Edward and Alice, the accident was nothing more than a massacre and feast of innocent human beings. I wasn't sure what kind of creatures the culprits were, but I didn't believe for one moment that they were human. The image of their crimson eyes, pale skin and abnormal beauty was forever planted inside of my head.

After telling my adventurous tale of Edward and Alice to the police, they searched continuously for the two. I kept my hopes up everyday that the police would find them. Edward had pinky promised me that he would visit me, but how would he know where to find me if I wasn't staying at Lasseter? But they never found any traces of the two. It was as if they didn't exist. I liked to consider them my own guardian angels.

Shortly after my identity was revealed, I was sent to live with Uncle Tommy, who was named my godfather when I was born. He was one of two of my father's brothers. I've spent the last thirteen years of my life with him in this big city of Roseville, which was located right smack dab in the middle of Michigan. My life here had never been glorious, but I was somewhat happy, and it was all because of him. But he was gone now. Just like my parents.

I heard another loud sob, and quickly closed my eyes to block the vision of tears. I told myself I wasn't going to do this. Uncle Tommy would've hated this. He was so lively, so upbeat and spontaneous. This kind of environment would've been an insult to him. I bit my lip. Don't do this. Don't do this. He wouldn't of wanted you to cry like this. But that didn't stop the lone teardrop that involuntarily slipped from my under my closed eyelid. And that was all it took for my muffled sobs to finally be released.

I slapped a hand over my mouth to keep myself quiet, but it came too late. Through my tears, I watched as various members of my distant family all stood in concern, alarmed by my outburst. To escape their watching eyes, I slid to the ground next to the pedestal that held his picture. I was as far away from the casket as I could be, but I wasn't far enough. Just knowing that the man who had sheltered me, and loved me for all these years was about to be lowered into the ground was enough to make me melt into the ground with him. I covered my eyes, trying to stop the tear flow. Through my eyelashes, I could see the fingers closed around my eyes were glowing red. The sun was dancing in the sky, laughing at me, laughing at my loss. I sobbed again, and backed up against the pedestal by accident. It wobbled a bit, before an object crashed loudly against the ground in front of me. I winced as glass shattered, spewing into jagged pieces around my lap. I removed my hand, and glanced at the object sitting in front of me. The picture frame was broken, and his happy face smiled up at me through the broken glass. I slammed my eyes shut immediately.

I grunted in annoyance as I tried to steady the bags in my hand. I fumbled for the doorknob, trying to twist it without dropping and damaging any of the items in my arms. I sighed in relief as I heard a click. Using my left foot, I kicked the bottom of the door softly, pushing it open. I stepped inside, immediately breathing in the familiar vanilla scent of the house, and pushed my backside against the door, closing it.

"Uncle T, I hope you have your fat pants on! I got Chinese for dinner, and I pretty much bought the entire potato chip stock of the corner store!" I yelled up the staircase. I quickly entered the kitchen, and let the bags fall onto the small wooden table. I pulled my jacket off and hung it around one of the chairs, before looking around. I stepped forward, entering the living room. The television was left on, and I recognized the high squeaky voice of Spongebob Squarepants. I chuckled. Uncle Tommy was probably the only 48 year old man who still watched cartoons. Grabbing the remote, I clicked off the TV, before quickly jogging up the staircase. It was unusually quiet.

"Uncle T? Don't forget that it's Friday! I picked up a DVD for our usual Friday night activity. Some zombie movie that's supposed to be really gory. I thought you'd appreciate that," I announced in the middle of the hallway. Out of the three doors, only one was open, and it was mine. I sighed as I knocked gently on the bathroom door, before pressing my ear to it. Silence. I frowned.

"Uncle Tommy?"

I turned around, and knocked on his bedroom door. I waited for a few seconds, and sighed in aggravation when the door never opened. I knew he was here. His pick-up truck was sitting in the driveway.

"I'm coming in!" I yelled, and waited a few more seconds before I turned the golden doorknob and pushed the door open. The room was silent and dark. But the gray daylight poured through his window, illuminating my path to his bed. A bulky figure was slumped against his bed, under the midnight blue comforter. I gulped. The silence was terrifying. And by silence, I meant that the only breathing I was hearing was coming from myself. My fingers were shaking as they gripping the edge of the thick blanket. I closed my eyes as I ripped the blanket away from him. When I opened them, I screamed.

He was laying in his bed, in a pool of his own blood. Broken, bloody pieces of glass was scattered among his body. My eyes were wide, and my breath was caught in my throat as I slumped to the floor in hysterics. He was dead.

Homicide. That's what the police were calling this. But it was murder. Cold-hearted, cold-blooded murder. His killer has yet to be found, and I didn't anticipate them ever cracking the case. I have seen this kind of murder before. It was them. It was the "bad guys". It was the same creature as the ones that resided in Italy and killed my parents. I was a walking magnet of death. Death accompanied me everywhere. Gruesome, cruel death.

A warm hand grasped my forearm, and pulled, in an attempt to get me onto my feet. I opened my cloudy eyes, and was met with a familiar face. It was the same facial structure as my father, and my Uncle Tommy. He smiled, and my heart thumped erratically in my chest at the comfortable alignment of teeth that the brothers all shared. Without hesitation, my arms immediately wrapped around his shoulders as he held me close to him.

"I'm sorry, kid. It'll be okay."

His voice was soothing, but not comforting.

"No, it won't. I don't have anybody. They're all gone," I hissed between my teeth as my bottom lip quivered. His hand rubbed my upper-back as I soaked his button-up shirt. He cooed into my ear, trying to quiet my loud, depressing sobs.

"You have me, Bella. We'll start anew, and we'll both be okay. Don't forget that you're coming to live with me. I'll take care of you, sweetheart," he explained as his chin rested against my shoulder. I held him tighter to me. Even his scent reminded me of my lost family. I wanted to protest. I didn't want to move to Forks, Washington. I didn't want to grow attached to Uncle Charlie, only to have him ripped away from me. I didn't want to curse his life, and put him in danger. I didn't want my heart, and my soul to shatter anymore than it already has. But I couldn't stop myself as he grasped my hand, and we walked away from the funeral with the sun beating down on us.

Uncle Charlie was transferring my luggage from my car, to his. We would be getting on the first plane to Seattle immediately after leaving here. I looked up at the sky once more. Instead of staring at the object of my hatred right now, I studied the clouds. They were pushing together, overlapping each other as they moved slowly in the clear sky above us. A small gust of wind flew around me, making the chain around my neck flap. The gold of the ring attached to it flipped, bouncing once with the movement of the mind. I caught it in my fingers, still looking at the sky. Edward's face flooded my senses.

Even after thirteen years, I remembered every inch of his perfect face. It often invaded my dreams, where he would be smiling and comforting, and even for those eight hours, I was happy. I had always daydreamed that one day I would find him, we would fall madly in love, get married and grow gray together. Of course, the daydreams were simply of that, dreams.

Because there were a few things I was absolutely certain of. First, Edward had to be at least sixteen years older than me. Second, he probably wasn't alive anymore. If he was, the police would've found him. And third, he belonged among the same species that the "bad guys" were.

But nevertheless, my heart continued to beat everyday, for him.

For my Edward.

I really hope that I didn't confuse anybody with this chapter. I wanted to explain everything in a convenient way, without having to write about four or five unnecessary chapters about Bella's life in Michigan. I think I pretty much covered everything. If I haven't, I will in future chapters. Anyway, thank you for the reviews! I appreciate them a lot, so keep it up!