Pressure pounded against pitch black streets, it dragged the tip of a new, clean nail against a chalk board. I shuddered in the cold. The wind swayed me back and forth while the tragic screeching noise continued. Cotton's hollow breath ran heavily within my ears and the world spun around me with child-like laughter. Where was I?

Fire soared throughout my throat and earthquakes plagued my arms. The ground was coming up, I realized. Small, pale toes became as black as the night as they shared their blood with the ground.

It kept a beat. Like a heart, it thumped. Small, pale toes exploded with every step as they ran on landmines, but they had to keep running. Keep running.

His stomach had been tied off, ripped apart, hastily thrown back together again - sweaty, boney pipettes sticking stinging skin against the same, salty, colorless flesh leaving it in bright red flames. Keep running.

The world was so silent, as if someone held a pillow against its mouth. We were all choking on the fibers, our lungs growling within the oppressive cages of our bodies - prisoners. Where was he going?

The night grew darker, my eyes blinder. I could hear the screeches, tires against god-forsaken, lonely roads, it was all muffled, distorted and blinding. They played augmented chords, I felt all eyes on me. The shadows grew longer, the screeching grew louder, blood dripped and fell away. Who was taking it? All that the gutters washed away for the laughing antagonist whose eyes I could feel. I could feel them stripping me bare, I felt them like a whip perfectly slicing open just the right amount of tender, baby skin. I felt the burning, and I felt the fire and I kept running. Keep running.

Where was my mother? It was too dark to see, I couldn't cry out. We were all stuck in the suffocating blanket of our fire, they were drowning us in flames - we burned, us demons - all of us, dying.

Mother? He was so small, he was the lightest little twig falling from the tree, helpless beneath the stampede. Feet, thousands of them, running - the beat, the heartbeat, rose and fell like the notes of a piano.

All the limp and bleeding fingers felt beneath them, with the jagged wires of nerve-endings they held like fallen soldiers, was the endless abyss of freezing pavement that grated into them so lovingly. She wasn't here. Where was he? Why was he so small? Run.

He couldn't move. Run! Who said that? Where were they? Cinder blocks dug into the cold depths of the earth, they scraped away every last breath. The silence stung as they tore him apart, ripped him limb from limb and left him lying there - broken baby bones and cartilage confetti. The eyes had broken so long ago; dull, glazed, defenseless without a voice to cry for mercy. They saw nothing, smelled the aggressive smoke, sweat and blood that kicked at his open cage of a hollow stomach, heard screeching and silence and heartbeats like thunder, felt the burning, felt the sickness and the cold, and knew it was inevitable. Die here.

I suddenly felt the feel of the fabric once more, this time soft within my trembling hands. It was still so dark, I blinked.

"Are you alright?" A voice called out in the darkness.

Was I alright? Where was I?

I blinked and took a look around, letting my eyes adjust. Silhouettes of a closet, table, desk… my room. I was in my bed and somebody was sitting next to me.

"Wha-… what happened?" My voice felt weak.

"You were having a bad dream is all" I listened to the soft and gentle notes of her voice.

It was Esme.

"Oh" I mumbled softly.

I felt tired, I had been having a dream? Oh that's right a nightmare.

I shuddered. I had been so helpless, I had felt so… exposed to everything.

I became aware of the tears that sat in the corner of my eyes, they were wet and uncomfortable. I never wanted to feel so helpless again.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Esme gently asked.

I looked up at her, unsure. I could feel my lip trembling and my body start to shake. What was I suppose to tell her? How could I explain it? I wasn't completely sure what had happened in my nightmare, only that it had left me with a terrible, sick feeling. I felt like throwing up.

"It's alright, Edward" She whispered empathetically. She grabbed me tight against her shoulder, an attempt to stop my shaking. The tears were running faster now.

"I didn't know what to do…" I cried into her embrace.

What should I have done? Keep running, I suddenly remembered. I had tried to, but I couldn't. I tried as hard as I could, but I was paralyzed. I wanted to so badly, but I couldn't. It was all she had wanted me to do, and I just couldn't.

"I couldn't!"

Esme immediately clutched me tighter, the fuzz of her bathrobe feeling good against my bare arms. I sobbed openly against her.

"It's alright, Edward" She whispered into my ear, her breath warm and her voice clear. "There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm right here, sweetheart. It's alright"

Her soft hands had been rubbing circles on my backs, and it was a wonderful feeling. Esme just kept holding me, tight like she'd allow no one to come and take me away from her.

She stayed with me for a while, just holding me. Esme was so warm, and gentle and safe - she just stayed there until I fell back to sleep.

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I awoke the following morning, with the familiar feeling of having cried myself to sleep. My eyes were sore and crusted, but it came with a light feeling as well.

I took a few minute to make myself nice - brush my hair, my teeth, wash my face.

Today was a 'special day', and so I took out the nice white button-up shirt Carlisle had bought for me and matched it with the dark pants that went with it.

I didn't really enjoy getting so dressed up, but if it made my foster parents happy I couldn't really complain. I wouldn't admit that I agreed with Emmett, who had argued that we shouldn't have to dress up in nice clothes on a day when all we were going to do was eat, although secretly I did.

Carlisle insisted, of course, that we had to make a good impression on our 'family'. I guess it wasn't so bad, I thought as I looked in the mirror.

"Hey, when you're finished putting on all your make-up, can you let someone who actually has to use the bathroom in?" I heard a knock at the bathroom door.

I scowled towards it before opening the door. I almost burst out laughing. Emmett was standing there in a shirt similar to mine that might as well have been the same size because it barely fit him, and his hair comb backed in a ridiculous fashion.

"What?" His face fell and he looked down at himself. "Do I look that bad?"

I bit my lip and shook my head. It wasn't until he had shut the door behind him that I fell into a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" My foster father asked as he made his way down the hall.

I looked at him, he was looking no less professional than he always did. I was happy he had the day off.

I thought about for it a moment.

"Nothing" I shook my head, amused.

He let out a small laugh anyway. "Well you seem to be a good mood today."

Instantly I frowned upon remembering why I wasn't expected to be a good mood - Rosalie Hale.

I hadn't seen the girl since she mysteriously vanished from my house one morning over a month ago. I hadn't exactly been sad when she'd left, as Rosalie was… insane.

"You know what Jacob says about Thanksgiving?" I asked him.

Perhaps if Carlisle knew the horrifying origins of it, he would decide to boycott the holiday, and I wouldn't have to spend any unnecessary time with my extended family.

"I can imagine" Carlisle deadpanned with an amused smirk.

He ruffled my hair with his strong hands and I scowled.

"Thanksgiving is about family" He said, seeming happy at the thought.

I didn't actually know much about Carlisle's side of the family, but there were so many feet I could step on by asking. It did incite my curiosity, however.

The bathroom door opened at just that moment, revealing Emmett who had thankfully fixed his hair.

"And food!!" My foster brother grinned.

The three of us laughed at that.

Emmett mainly thought with his stomach, if he thought at all.

I smiled, he'd kill me if heard me say that - or act like it, at least. Despite his intimidating size, I'd learned that Emmett was actually somewhat of a pushover.

"Maybe you should borrow one of my shirts" Carlisle eyed his eldest son critically.

Emmett looked embarrassed, but had gone off with him anyway.

In school we had made a list of things we were grateful for, the top of mine had been: I'm thankful my family likes me and my foster brother Emmett because sometimes I cause trouble and Emmett can be really annoying sometimes (yesterday he wouldn't stop singing the Pina Colada song).

Esme had hung it on the refrigerator with a smile as wide as the ocean.

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I guess Carlisle had been right when he'd accused me of being in a good mood, but about half-way through the car ride to Esme's mother house I felt it start to fade. It became replaced with worry.

"Are you getting car sick?" Emmett asked quite loudly, leaning into his window.

I turned to him unhappily. "No"

"Well if you do" He looked at me suspiciously and then pointed towards my window.

I nodded.

"Everything alright back there?" asked Esme.

"Fine"

"Are you excited to see Rosalie and Jasper again?" She asked, delighted.

Rosalie I thought throwing my head back into the seat. I sighed.

"Yeah, yeah" Emmett had intercepted the question. "But what are we going to be eating?"

"Don't you worry about food" Carlisle assured him.

The trip continued, everyone getting along just fine and in good spirits, but I wondered if we would go home the same way.

Because it was the Hales; something terrible was going to happen today, wasn't it? Something always happened when Rosalie was involved. It was inevitable.

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"Hello!!" My grandmother greeted wrapping her arms around me as the four members of my family stood in her doorway.

I liked my grandma alright. She didn't smell as nice as Esme, though, and her skin was rougher than my foster mother's.

When I had fist met her over the summer, I had been quiet as a mouse but she had managed to make enough conversation for the two of us. She was a very verbal woman.

"How've you been, Edward?" She grinned, causing more of her wrinkles to show.

"Fine" I smiled at her.

"And who might this be?" She looked at Emmett and then towards Esme and Carlisle.

I wondered if she was being playful or had truly forgotten his name.

"This is Emmett" My foster mother introduced, looking a bit embarrassed.

"What have you been feeding him?" Grandma Platt asked skeptically. "And why doesn't it work on the other one?"

We all laughed, even if some of it was nervous laughter. I hadn't really been insulted, I had no desire to be as big as my giant of a foster brother.

"Who you really should be giving it to is that beanpole Jasper, isn't that right James?" She called playfully into the other room.

My stomach suddenly hurt, James - my uncle. I hadn't really met him before, not formally and I hadn't expected him to be here. I didn't really know what his issue was, or his wife's, or god's know what went on in their home, and I knew it wasn't any of my business either, but the thought of it always left me feeling sick.

"Yeah, I hear you ma!" He called back.

His voice was deep and slightly raspy in an eerie way.

We were led into the other room, which looked just as tidy as you'd expect a little old lady's home to look. Tiny little picture frames, frilly cloths; the typical grandmother.

I looked over towards Emmett who seemed as happy as he usually did, unless of course it was one of those Sunday morning's Esme would take him off to god knows where. Then, he was known to actually be quiet for a few minutes.

The Hales were already sitting at the table, all of them dressed in their Sunday best. They seemed so much… nicer than they had before. I wouldn't have called my cousins trashy or anything, but they did live in a very tiny house way out in the sticks and they definitely weren't as wealthy as my own foster parents.

I noticed Rosalie looked as innocuous as ever - today especially done up in a long, dark blue dress. She was absent-mindedly staring at her empty plate before we entered.

Her lighter blue eyes quickly jumped over to Emmett and I followed her gaze over to where my foster brother stood, smiling at her. It seemed odd.

"Anna, James" Carlisle greeted shaking their hands as they stood. "It's been a while"

The two of them nodded and smiled back.

"Too long" She said. "It's great to see you again"

She gave a look to her husband, who shot her a look right back. It was a brief, subtle moment, and I wasn't exactly sure what to make of it.

"These must be Edward and Emmett" He smiled down at us. "Nice to meet you."

It wouldn't take a genius to tell the smile had been forced, but standing under Carlisle's shadow I said the obligatory;

"You too" and shook his rough, pale hand after Emmet had.

Grandma Platt seated us around the cramped table, obviously serving more today than it ever had in recent years. She sat us opposite the Hales; matching the wives across from the wives, the husbands from the husbands, Emmett across from Rosalie and me from Jasper.

Grandma Platt excused herself into the kitchen and Esme volunteered to help her. Esme was awfully nice in that regard, but then, of course, Esme was always nice.

The table was left in silence as we all sat around awkwardly.

I gave a glance towards James, almost feeling as if it were wrong to look at him. His hair, a similar color to Jasper's, was neatly pulled back into a short pony-tail. He had cleaned up a lot since I had last seen him. Still, there was a look in his eyes - something cold, something sad. It was worrying.

"-had to be carried everywhere" Emmett was explaining to the twins, laughing.

I had the feeling he was talking about me.

"What?" I questioned him.

Three pairs of eyes shot to me, their coinciding mouths grinning.

"I was just telling 'em about how you sprained your ankle" He grinned.

It was a terrible thought; how much pain I had been it. It had been all my stupid neighbor's fault. At least that had been the end of his antics for a bit. Not that he didn't still attempt to get me in trouble now, but at least there had been three weeks I had the excuse of an injury. Then again, he had wanted to do a few… 'tests' on my cast.

"Jacob…" I muttered beneath my breath, and then turned to Emmett. "You didn't have to carry me everywhere"

He laughed. "Sure, whatever. Hey, remember how Esme had Carlisle dismantle that bike? What was it called? 'Black Beauty'? Ha, that was the ugliest bike I've ever seen"

They laughed and then the conversation came to a halt.

Jasper was silent, that wasn't unusual, but Rosalie was as well and that was unusual. She sat there smiling at Emmett; laughing and nodding, but never saying a word.

She had told me before that she liked Emmett, but then she had kissed me (for a second time). I didn't understand it, but I had quit trying to awhile ago.

"So, you guys miss too much school?" Emmett had asked, as he was the one doing most of the talking.

Aunt Anna and Carlisle were having their own quiet conversation. I wouldn't listen in on it. Whether because I knew it was rude to or because I was afraid I'd be called out on it, my motives were unclear to me.

"Not much…" Jasper mumbled.

I was grateful when Esme and Grandma Platt returned, bringing out various foods in expensive-looking dishes.

"Oh boy look at that bird" Carlisle had grinned at his wife.

That seemed to please Esme, who allowed Carlisle to start carving it. I was impressed with his precision, but then again he was a doctor.

There was a quiet cheer when Carlisle finished. We began the meal by saying grace, which was something I never really did so I had felt uncomfortable. It wasn't too bad though, as everyone was more focused on the food anyway.

"This is really good, grandma" Rosalie beamed as she bit into her mashed potatoes.

I would have thought she was a polite young woman if I didn't know her any better. It looked as though this was how she acted when she was around her family.

"Aw thanks Rosie" She smiled from her seat at the head of the table. "Eat all you want there's plenty of it."

Rosalie smiled and nodded.

"That goes for you too, Edward, Jasper" She laughed. "I can't have my grandson's wasting away!"

She, apparently, wasn't kidding when she said that because she had stuffed us with three servings each.

I felt like I might explode.

"Whose up for a little football?" Carlisle asked as we got up from the table.

Emmett seemed eager, and I had wondered what exactly he had done with the four plates he had eaten.

"I think I'll help clean up…" I said, much to Carlisle's disappointment.

I did enjoy playing sports with Carlisle. Even if I wasn't very good at them, he always made them fun. Today, however, for the sake of my stomach I thought I'd sit out. Not to mention I wasn't all that excited if my snake-eyed uncle was going to play.

"Are you sure?" Carlisle frowned at me.

I felt a stab of guilt hit me.

"I'm just going to let my stomach settle first" I nodded in thought. "that would probably be for the best"

Carlisle nodded at me. "Your grandma stuff you too much?"

Carlisle laughed and I smiled.

"Well come join us if you feel better" He told me and then grabbed his jacket.

"I'll totally kick your butt when you do!" Emmett cried excitedly as the four men shut the door behind them.

Suddenly being the only boy in the house, I kind of wished I hadn't argued.

Oh well I thought as I made my way in the kitchen.

"You didn't want to play football?" Esme questioned as I joined her at the sink.

I didn't know where Grandma Platt had gone, or Rosalie and Aunt Anna for that matter, but they were probably doing something together as Rosalie seemed to have a certain attachment to her grandmother. At least she was nice to somebody.

"No" I shook my head and took the plate Esme had handed to me. "I'm too full"

Esme gave a small laugh, as I circled the fine china with a dishrag.

"Grandma wouldn't quit stuffing me"

"Yes" Esme smiled. "Well you see your grandmother grew up during the great depression, and there hadn't always been enough to eat. So she doesn't like to see anyone go hungry"

I frowned. I felt for my grandma, that was so sad. Why did bad luck always seem to plague the nicest of people?

"Oh" I said quietly and tried to switch to a different topic. "Was this the house you grew up in?"

Esme shook her head, taking the dish I had and putting it to the side.

"No, I actually grew up in Ohio"

"Ohio?" I echoed.

Ohio was so far away, how had they winded up here?

"We lived there until I was seventeen, then we moved here for my dad's job…" She trailed off.

I wondered what had happened to her dad, he didn't seem to be in the picture anymore.

"Did I ever tell you how I met Carlisle?" She suddenly asked, lost in her thought.

I shook my head, curious. I only knew that they had been married for seven years.

She smiled, staring down at the new plate she was washing and began her story;

"I had been eighteen years old and quite the foolhardy girl" She began.

I stared at her, I couldn't believe there had ever been a time when Esme was 'foolhardy'.

"Oh I was" She assured me, laughing at the face I made before continuing. "Carlisle had been 21 at the time and pre-med. I had seen him volunteering at the hospital and had fallen in love with him since the moment I laid eyes on him. He had such a gentle and caring soul about him, always going out of his way to help people…"

Esme trailed off with a happy gleam in her eyes.

"Well I was only eighteen and still in high school, I hadn't the nerve to just talk to him!" She laughed at the memory. "So I thought perhaps if I got sick, I would be able to see him"

I found myself smiling along with her.

"I stayed out all night in the middle of a rainstorm in nothing but sundress!" She seemed quite amused with herself. "only I didn't so much as catch a cold"

I nodded at her, curious as to what she had tried next. I didn't especially like the thought of my foster mother purposely making herself sick, but she seemed to be in perfectly good health these days.

"Why didn't you just fake sick?" I inquired, thinking it to be the easiest solution.

"I was sure with Carlisle's genius he would have seen right through it. Although I didn't know at the time he wasn't the excellent doctor he is today, it wouldn't be till later I found out he was as nervous and unsure of himself as I was. Yes, well, anyway after my attempt to catch a cold failed - I came up with another Idea. I climbed to the middle of the tallest tree I could find-"

"You didn't" My eyes were wide towards the woman. There was no one my sweet and gentle foster mother would have done something so, to put it simply, crazy.

She smiled, amused and embarrassed, squeezing her eyes closed. "Oh but I did. I jumped off and broke my leg in two places"

I winced. "You broke your leg just to talk to him?"

She nodded. "Oh sweet irony, the worst part was he wasn't even working that day."

I nearly lost it. I was somewhere between shock and hysterical laughter.

"I had been so determined, though. I had the hospital call him up, and I refused to be treated by anybody else. And then, watching the thoughtful look in his eye as he worked on my leg, I fell in love with him. We caught each other's eyes for a brief moment and we knew we were in love with each other. I felt like the luckiest girl on the planet." She smiled. "That was how we met."

That was some story. I hadn't realized how different my foster parents had been when they were younger, it was unbelievable.

"Five years later, we met in the hospital again, we started dating and three months later he proposed to me."

"What did you do for five years?" I furrowed my brow trying to contemplate it.

Esme suddenly stopped wiping the plate in her hands and stared at the sink with a thoughtful look for a few moments.

"We had been young" Esme explained, seeming a bit sad. "and so we had gone our separate ways"

I frowned as Esme's joy had seemed to have vanished.

"But it was fate" Esme told me. "and we found each other once again"

I smiled. It was the perfect happy ending, wasn't it? I was thankful they had found each other, they seemed like the world's most loving couple.

I nodded at her, agreeing it was their fate to be together.

"So you think everything happens for a reason?" I asked her.

She thought it over for a moment and then said with the utmost confidence; "I do. Yes, even when things seem bad I am sure they happen for a reason.

I excused my self from the kitchen and was making my way outside to join the rest of the guys in my family, thinking to myself; everything happens for a reason.

Despite how flawlessly the day had gone, I just wasn't able to comprehend at the time how much I would doubt that sentence over the next month. Life was about to come at me full throttle, and optimistically grateful Rosalie hadn't bothered me, and not giving any thought to the secrets my family kept so well, I was ready in the least.

A/N: You ever have a dream like that? Where like the P.O.V keeps changing from like your eyes to you seeing yourself? No? Maybe I'm just weird then…

Anyway, I think my Word Count must be broken, because this seems like an insanely short chapter…

Well please let me know what you think about it - is it too boring? (this chapter definitely was, huh?) Confusing? Weird?

I appreciate your thoughts : )

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. ^^

XOXO,

W.C.E