Disclaimer- Twilight and everything in it belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I suppose I'll get over it one day.
Though I've never been through hell like that
I've closed enough windows to know you can never look back
If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone.
Carry on.
May your past be the sound
Of your feet upon the ground.
Carry on.
Carry on, carry on
-Carry On, Fun.
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The ground beneath my bare feet felt soft and smooth, despite the numerous rocks that dotted the woods. I hardly noticed their presence; they caused no discomfort for my marble skin. I had the oddest sense of deja vu, running through these woods, but I pushed it to the side. I flexed my shield, reaffirming the position of the rapidly fleeing vampire. I gave a knowing grimace. This was the fastest of my kind that I had come across in the decade I'd been with the Volturi, and yet, I was easily and rapidly outstripping him. I hurtled a chasm that opened up right in front of me, the particular talent of this vampire. I thought his name was Benjamin. Of course, that was why Aro wanted him. It went almost without saying that I would track him down. His extraordinary manipulation of the elements and the earth made him a formidable opponent, and I was the only one that had the skill necessary to catch him.
I decided I had let this go on for long enough. I put on a burst of speed and tackled the vampire to the ground. He struggled for a while. I put an end to this quickly by locking him in such a position that he couldn't move an inch.
"I suppose Aro sends he greetings?" Benjamin snarled venomously. He was very young for a vampire, only fifteen or sixteen, if that.
"Indeed." My reply was expressionless, without a hint of emotion. I had perfected his mask over the years. It came in handy when my mind wandered to less safe topics, such as my lost love. I sighed, suddenly immeasurably weary. "But I presume you do not wish to make his acquaintance."
"Uh, hell no!" he stated, as if it should be obvious. Which I suppose it was.
"Then, leave." I said, releasing him from my hold.
He bolted to his feet, as if concerned I'd change my mind, then hesitated. "You're serious?"
"Dead." I said, straight faced. He almost smiled at my near joke, then looked confused. "Your eyes are yellow. I thought I'd been imagining it before, but there's no mistake from this close up. How is that possible? And why are you letting me go? I was sure the Volturi would have given you explicit orders to not come back without me."
"My eyes are yellow, because I choose to feed off animals, rather than humans." I ignored his gasp of surprise. "And yes, the Volturi did tell me to bring you back. However, I do not necessarily agree with this order. If I had brought you back, a talented vampire would use her power to form a false bond between the Volturi and yourself. I do not think this is ethical, to use that sort of trickery to force you to join us. Therefore, I am letting you go."
He looked confused. "Won't the Volturi punish you for disobeying?"
I flashed him a grin. "They can't. There is a reason they sent me for this mission. I am unusually talented, even among them."
Benjamin studied me. "I would ask what your gift was, but I have a feeling I would not receive an answer."
"Your suspicions would be correct."
Now he grinned. "It's been… not entirely terrible meeting you. What is your name?"
"Bella. I will do my best to make sure they do not simply send someone else to hunt you down, yet I have a feeling you could evade any other vampire easily enough."
"Probably," he agreed smugly. "Bye, Bella."
"Goodbye."
And he was gone.
I decided that it was time for a hunt. It had been a few days, and I had about a week before my eyes began to resemble a white gold color. Whenever I went more than a week without feeding, they returned to the same white they had been at the start of my new life, growing lighter with time rather than darker. I tried to prevent them from becoming completely white. As rare as yellow eyes were, no human had white eyes. It was unheard of. I was a freak among both my kind and theirs. This thought depressed me more than I thought it should have.
Of course, I was now fluent in Italian, not to mention French, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, etc. And Romanian — for sentimental purposes. I had mastered my gift to such a degree that my control was nearly flawless and my range had doubled. This, along with my numerous other gifts, had made me by far the most valuable member of the Volturi, more so than even Aro. Not to mention, my looks had been greatly improved by the transformation, evidently. A few times, they had tried to convince me to go "fishing" with Heidi.
I vehemently refused.
I sighed, a bit depressed that I should, by my own making, have everything but the one thing I truly wanted. I returned my attention to hunting. I caught hint of the scent of a lynx, my favorite. It would barely make a snack, yet I hunted it down anyway. When I was through, I made to grab a few elk, but then I stopped. I realized why this area seemed so familiar to me.
I was back in Forks.
Once I knew where I was, the pain in my chest returned full-fledged. But there were some things I needed to see before I left.
First, I went to the Cullen's house. I had almost forgotten what it looked like. I stood outside the graceful white house, taking in all the details I had missed as a human. Then I took a deep breath, and went inside. Everything was exactly how they had left it. Immediately, I noticed the grand piano, standing gracefully as ever on the platform by the door. I played the first few measures of Clair de Lune. I had become an acceptable pianist during my free time with the Volturi. I stopped, knowing that wasn't really the song I wanted to hear. Calling up my dusty human memories, I began playing my lullaby. I was only halfway through before I began shaking, and my playing suffered accordingly. I stopped altogether, and wrapped my arms around my body. Rationally, I knew that I was unlikely to just fall apart from grief, yet that was exactly what it seemed was happening. I had to get out of here.
Running full tilt, I reached within seconds the place I had gone when I realized Edward was a vampire. It seemed just as peaceful to me now as it had then. I sat on the same fallen tree and stared off into the distance at the same point. But now I was irrevocably changed, and I couldn't go back. Not ever.
Sighing, I stood up. I had meant to see Charlie anyway. I continued down the path back to the house, reaching it in moments. Then I stiffened.
Edward's scent was here. And it was only hours old.
I could not think of a reason Edward would come here, ten years later. In fact… hadn't it been exactly ten years? No, it had been 9 years and 362 days. In fact… today was my birthday. He came back on my birthday.
Why?
Shaking my head, I crept around to a window where I could see Charlie. He looked terrible. Had I done this to him? My guilt tripled.
But I had to know why Edward had been here. I followed his scent in through my window, up the tree. He had gone into the shadows of the kitchen, then left through the frond door. The trail led to an odd place: the Forks cemetery.
It stopped in front of my gravestone.
This confused me. I wasn't sure what to think about the fact that Edward assumed I was dead. I sat there for a while, and looked at the stone proclaiming that I was no longer among the living. After a few minutes, or it could've been hours, I sensed a presence that felt vaguely familiar come under my shield. It was a vampire, judging by the speed at which it was moving. While I was trying to remember where I knew him or her, I struck a defensive pose and threw out a physical shield. I saw a black haired vampire with golden eyes slam into it. My physical shield dropped in shock. "A—Alice?"
"Bella!" she sobbed. "Oh, Bella, what happened to you? Never mind, we'll get to that later. It's Edward— he thinks you're dead!"
So, apparently Edward thinking me dead was a bad thing. But why? "So?"
"Bella, don't you understand? He's going to Volturi and asking to die! I've seen it!"
My dead heart froze.
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Aaaaannd... Cliffie! At this point in the story, you might start to see some similarities between the origional New Moon and my version. Fear not, there will be a happy resolution.
-Anna
