Chapter THREE:

Light with a Sharpened Edge

"Wow…" I said, scanning the refrigerator. "You've got a pretty sparse selection here…" I turned to face the blonde boy that had brought me down here. "Oh, I'm Lucinda Blacken." I held my hand out to him. "And I don't know you, do I?"

"No, you don't," he replied. A sudden feeling of serenity came over me. "My name is Jasper Hale." He nodded and sort of smiled with his eyes before turning to do something, so I dropped my hand back to my side.

I looked past him and saw Alice smiling at her. "Hi Alice!" she said, walking over to her new friend. "Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to have any painkillers around here, would you?" I asked, smiling a bit. "My fall down the stairs was a bit, you know… Painful!" Jasper sighed and turned on his heels, exiting the room.

Alice smiled and a hint of worry showed in her eyes for Jasper. "Yeah, we could probably find some somewhere! Hold on a second, okay?" I smiled and sat down, crossing my legs in a manly fashion. Just then I began feeling very relaxed and Jasper turned back into the room. "Hi…" I said lazily, my eyelids blinking heavily. "Hey," he said, as a small smile formed on his lips. "How are you? Does your head still hurt?" he asked, crossing his arms. I nodded and yawned. "Yeah… but right now I just feel really tired all of a sudden… I dunno why."

He smiled and I began to feel more awake. Confused I rubbed my arm where I saw a scab. "Ch. Typical me…" I looked up at him. "Falling down stairs and such, you know!" He chuckled and nodded. "Yeah… I think Alice found some ibuprofen." I blinked in a dazed fashion, still kind of tired. "It's the painkiller for your 'typical' fall down the stairs."

"Oh." I said, looking up at the ceiling. He nodded and Alice walked in with a prescription bottle. "Well all I could find was this. But it should help!" she said, handing me the bottle of pills. I thanked her and read the instructions. Take one tablet by mouth every 6 hours as needed for pain. "Okay, then…" I looked over at the clock hung on the wall above Jasper and Alice. '6 o'clock, so at midnight I'll take one again,' I thought. "Thanks Alice!" I said, getting up and walking to her. I gave her a hug, glad that there was at least one other girl here that I could hang out with. But as I neared her and touched her, she stiffened under my touch. I backed up, looking at her eyes. Pitch black… I thought. What'd that mean?

I smiled and walked past them, still thinking about what in the world that could have meant. I walked slowly up the stairs, making sure to use the banister. I got to the upper floor and turned walked to the door that I thought was my room. I opened the door and there was a couch, a bed and… a wall of CDs. I gasped and looked up and down the wall. There was even a ladder leading up to the higher shelves! I walked up to the towering shelves and looked at some of the names. The Beatles, The Used, The Almost... I grinned and backed up again. Something was blocking my hearing from the outside, so I looked over, afraid of what I would see. My eyes met two golden ones, and I gasped. "Edward! I- I didn't mean…" I stuttered, trying not to make a greater fool of myself. By the look on his face, I was failing at my attempt.

He just smiled, "I take it you like music?" he asked, gesturing to his wall. I nodded and he brought his hand to his chin in thought. He looked me up and down and then said, "You like heavier music though. Like rock and such, correct?" Again, I nodded and he turned to his wall, pulling out a CD with a sort of dark orange case. "Ever heard of Alice in Chains?" he asked, handing the CD to me. I shook my head, looking down at the case in my hand. There was an angel sort of rising out of the ground, and she was a dark colored thing. I smiled and flipped it over, reading the song titles. "Hmmm… I think I might have heard some of these on the radio." I said. "I'm thinking about the one that said something about a rooster in it..." I concluded, looking back up at the oddly pale and music-obsessed boy. "Thanks!" I said gratefully. "I'll put it on my… Aw man… I don't think I brought it with me!"

Edward grinned and nodded. "You didn't bring your laptop with you, true. But I took the liberty of buying you a new one, so you shouldn't worry about that. It now has more memory and RAM and I bought you some speakers too!" I dropped my jaw and the CD in surprise. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I yelled, running into him and giving him s huge hug. I think I might have choked him, if it weren't for one single detail. He wasn't breathing in the first place. And he was as hard as stone when my body hit his, so my entire front side was pretty much aching from the impact. I let him go and he acted like he was having trouble regaining his breath, but I saw his eyes say that this was a fake, just an act. I took note of this, and he stood back up, his gasping drowned out by the torrents of thoughts rushing down the river that was my brain. He smiled and left the room then, ushering me out as well. I led myself back to my room in a thinking stupor. I opened the door and flopped down on my back on the bed that was now mine. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see anything, but wanting to know everything. I squinted my eyes shut tighter, and I gripped my elbows, digging my nails into my skin.

It was only a matter of time until I fell asleep, and the impact of the pain, the stress, and the oddity of today hit me so hard I flew into a dream. I was lying on the floor in the middle of what seemed like nothingness from all sides. My body wouldn't move except for my eyes, and when I did try to move, that coldness returned. The coldness I recognized In Edward's touch, in Alice's touch... In my great grandmother's touch. Paper-white faces floated around me, and the fridge with its barren state was now standing open at my feet. With the realization that something was going on right in front of me, I was able to stand, and I went to the fridge. The faces were lined up like items of food, and I realized who they were. Edward and Jasper were on the top shelf, staring at me with gold eyes. In the middle of them was Alice, her gaze cold and black. Then I was back in the darkness, alone, when their faces surrounded me and spun around, saying "We can help you, we can help!" over and over again. The spinning was getting faster and closer to me, and I screamed.

That's when I woke up.

And I had an idea of what was going on.