Today we shall discuss the past! :D Facts are less depressing today.
#1 - Bella was not deliberately turned into a vampire.
In the 1970s, she had the misfortune of being in a park through which Edward was cutting on his way to hunt. Being half in predator mode already because of his intense thirst, he caught her scent and lost control almost immediately, attacking her. He caught himself soon after biting her and took her back to Carlisle for help. I don't know how you woo someone you tried to kill, but Edward managed, apparently. Don't ask me how. (I mean, we all know that a certain Ms Swan is a bit... erm... lacking in the department of logical decision making.)
#2 - Alice doesn't remember this, but when she was younger, she had an imaginary friend named 'Mr Whitlock' (frequently mispronounced 'Mr Whibwock'). Her mother still has Alice's old drawings of him, which depict a teenaged-looking boy with long, wavy blonde hair and yellow eyes. On days during which Alice was in a bad mood, Mr Whitlock's eyes changed to red because she said he understood how she felt.
#3 - Alice used to mispronounce 'socks' as 'secks'.
Now, if you must, proceed to the story. I apologize for the following melodrama.
Insomnia
Chapter 21
For the next month, I was okay. Slowly, I was piecing myself back together, restoring some essence of me. With the weight of constant worry of my parents lifted from my shoulders, I was finally free to do what I thought was best for me, not what I thought would please them in the long run.
I should have known that it was too good to last.
After all, whenever had anything gone right in my life? It would have been too simple, made too much sense.
I guess I should have been used to it.
I'd been picking at my lunch, my appetite only half there for once.
Edward tensed slightly, which immediately set the rest of the Cullens off. Edward wasn't one to overreact to trivial human thoughts, from what I had seen. This had to be something important.
Bella touched his arm, bringing him back to reality. "Edward, what is it?"
He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. "Nothing that directly relates to us," he said. "There are three nomads in the area, but, as far as I can tell, they haven't taken any notice of us. They're curious about the vampire scent all over campus, though - they wonder if they've come onto someone's territory."
"Are they hunting?" Jasper asked, glancing at me. I resisted the urge to make a face - like anyone with any sort of sense would go for me, not when there were big, healthy teenage boys afoot.
Edward, too, flashed me a glance. "They haven't decided if they are or not. It would be best for someone to stay with Alice, at least when she's not in class, though."
This time I did make a face. "Is that reallynecessary? I mean, what are the odds that they'd go for someone my size? I don't have enough blood to feed a baby."
The look Jasper shot me was filled with such incredulity I swear that Mike Newton could have felt it on the other side of the room. "Do you have any idea how potent your scent is? The odds are actually higher for you."
"I knew I shouldn't have used that strawberry-scented shampoo this morning."
He rolled his eyes. "Alice, could you at least try to take this seriously?"
I gave a dramatic sigh. "I guess so. But I don't see what you're all so wound up about - there are five of you and three of them. The odds are in your favor, and, coming from me, that means a lot."
Shrugging, I stood from my chair and grabbed my tray, the remnants of my food sliding around as I adjusted the strap of my schoolbag.
"Coming?" I turned back to Jasper, who snapped out of his silent conversation with Edward. Ugh, it felt like I was never going to get used to Edward's freaky mind-reading thing - sometimes it was just annoying, and at other times it just flat-out worried me. My mind had always been the one place I had been able to hide, and now that I was dating the empathetic Jasper and was on speaking terms with his family of nosy vampires, there was no hiding anything.
Of course, when I dreamt, they couldn't hide much from me, either. I rarely thought before mentioning something that hadn't happened yet - only when I noticed the slightly confused look of whoever I'd let my tongue slip around did I realize that I'd said something out of the ordinary. Sometimes, I didn't even need a dream to know things. Little things came to me, like what the weather was going to be for the next week or who was going to win the upcoming high school football game.
I suppose it came with being more open to my second sight nowadays - Jasper had gradually coaxed me out of me out of my vision-lockdown phase, convincing me that whatever went on in my brain couldn't affect the outside world.
I still didn't completely believe him.
"Of course. You don't think I'd ditch my babysitting duties, do you?" Jasper said, his eyes gleaming mischievously as they did every time he was presented with a chance to tease me. I elbowed him lightly in the ribs, because god knows that I'd end up with a broken arm if I put any force into the gesture.
"We're in the same class, Jasper. It's not babysitting," I protested.
"If you say so." He grinned. I glared at him, but I was sure he could tell that my anger wasn't heartfelt. It rarely was.
Biology passed without any homicides, and, therefore, rather uneventfully. We were getting into the unit on cells, and everything we'd done for the past two days had been boring, mind-numbing review. I wondered how the Cullens stood repeating high school over and over again - I could hardly take brief review of topics we'd covered in eleventh grade.
Ugh. The mere thought of going through high school again made me want to smash my head against a wall.
The only thing off was Jasper's acute awareness of his surroundings. Though he hid it well, I could guess that he was tasting the emotional atmosphere, searching for signs of potential danger from the nomads.
Stupid, overprotective boyfriend.
He said nothing as he walked me to my next class. I was growing more worried with each passing minute - what threat could three wandering nomad vampires pose that could worry the Cullens so much?
Standing in front of the Spanish building, I finally voiced my worries. "You... you don't think they'll actually killanyone, do you?"
Jasper didn't respond immediately. "I don't know," he replied, seeming reluctant to admit uncertainty. "It's almost impossible to tell - nomads are too unpredictable. I would know."
I bit my lip, nodding. All the faces of my human friends flashed through my mind. If one of them was attacked...
Only a few minutes passed before Emmett showed up, which was apparently Jasper's cue to leave. After squeezing my hand once, he was gone, just as silent as ever. As I watched him go, a terrible sense of dread washed over me. Taking a deep breath, I tried to ignore it, telling myself that I had nothing to worry about, but, rather than disappearing it settled in the pit of my stomach.
Emmett looked at me. "You okay?"
"Yeah. I'm worried, I guess." I felt more like I was trying to convince myself than him.
He grinned, cracking his knuckles. "Don't worry, I'll pound anyone who takes a snap at you."
I smiled weakly at him, still overwhelmed by the feeling that something bad was coming. I could remember too easily the last time I had felt like this, right before leaving for Biloxi. Cynthia had been in her accident less than ten days later. I shuddered at the memory.
Maybe this time will be different, I told myself. It could just be a coincidence. Maybe you are just worried.
I hoped so.
Spanish, like Biology, passed at a sluggish pace. The clock on the wall appeared to be broken, the hands barely moving. Only half the lesson had passed, and, to be quite honest, I was about ready to jump up and scream from all the anxiety building up inside of me.
Right when it was getting to be too much, the headache hit.
Oh, god, no. I rested my head on my desk, squeezing my eyes shut and praying that this would pass. I couldn't go through this again, not today, not now.
The pain only increased. Within mere seconds, I was holding back a cry of pain. This was worse than my first headache, much worse. I just wanted it to end. Even just one more second-
When the pain stopped, I knew I had lost the battle.
Three shapes slowly circle the freshman. Her head is bowed against the sudden wind - she does not notice the advancing figures, having assumed herself to be the only student out of class by now.
Suddenly, one figure, the red-headed female, darts in. Instantly, the girl is knocked to the ground, her eyes wide with terror. The female bends over her, her red eyes alight with a sick joy as her comrades join her, watching the small girl struggle feebly against her grasp.
The sandy-haired male whispers something in her ear. She nods once, looking slightly put out as she backs away from the girl. She has long since passed out. The male who had spoken draws back, as though he is going to leave the girl.
Within the blink of an eye, the girl's breathing has stopped. Her neck is twisted at an awkward angle - she couldn't have been anything but dead. Even if she wasn't, the blood she was losing from her neck wound would have killed her quickly.
The three figures bend over her pale body, each taking a turn pressing their mouths to her open wound.
She is practically drained when another figure walks by. His features bear similarities to those feeding upon the girl, though he has a more civilized air about him. As he spots the girl and those crowded around her, his expression turns to one of disgust, then hunger. He has scented her blood.
His eyes dark with hunger, the lean, blonde male approaches the girl...
Gasping, my eyes snapped open, and it took me several long moments to realize where I was, and that the entire class was looking at me.
Gulping in a lungful of air, I glanced around me. Emmett's eyes were glued to me, a thousand questions dancing in them. I jerked my head slightly towards the door indicating that he needed to get outside - and fast - before turning back to the front of the classroom. I had to think fast, find a way to get out of class. My breathing still came in short gasps, and I figured that I could probably pull off having been hit with an asthma attack.
"Alice, debe usted ser dispensado?" Senorita Lee inquired, her eyebrow raised.
My mind worked to register what she had said. When I realized that she was letting me go, I hastily stood from my chair, stumbling to the door, just barely hearing her ask for a volunteer to make sure I wasn't going to collapse, dead, just three steps from the building.
Moments after I burst from the classroom, Emmett joined me.
"What did you see?" he demanded, easily keeping up with me, despite the fact that I was running.
"The nomads - they're going to kill a girl, Whitney, and - and Jasper, he - her blood-" I choked on my own words, fighting the panic rising inside of me. I couldn't let Jasper feed off a human - I thought we'd avoided this back in October. "Just go. Building 4. Hold your breath."
He nodded once before disappearing. I was alone, now, pushing myself as fast as I could. There was nothing I could do once I got there, I knew - I was just as vulnerable as Whitney, and if the nomads already had a taste for human blood... all I could do was pray that Emmett got there on time.
I rounded one corner, then the next, the school paths seeming to never end. My mind was reeling - what if Emmett was too late? What if the nomads took out more straying students? What if, what if, what if. What use were my visions if I never got the proper outcome?
Just when it seemed like I would never reach building 4, I rounded the last corner.
The horrific scene picked up right where it had left off.
Two of the three nomads had scattered, nowhere to be found. The remaining one, the male, was deep in conversation with Emmett, his face void of any emotion.
Jasper was standing over the ghostly pale body of Whitney. I froze mid-step when he looked up, his eyes a vibrant, crimson red. I felt the blood drain from my face. That look in his eyes, that uncontrollable hunger...
Not a second passed before he sprang. I closed my eyes and turned away. Though adrenaline pulsed through my veins, fueled purely by fear, I knew that there would be no avoiding his precise attack. If he missed, it would be a miracle.
This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.
When I reopened my eyes, everything had blended together in one big, blurry mess.
Jasper was suddenly on the other side of the walkway, having been knocked to the ground by what I guessed was Emmett. There were other blurs, too - the bronze one, which had to be Edward, was heading towards the nomad who had stayed. The brown blur, which I assumed was Bella, was added to the tangle of colors on the ground where Jasper and Emmett were wrestling.
Without any warning, the fight stopped. Jasper was being held to the ground by Emmett and Bella both - never before had any of them looked so much like vampires. I felt myself begin to shake at the sight. I couldn't deny it - I was scared. I'd gotten used to the ideathat they were what they were, but seeing them look so... so wild was like a slap in the face. They were dangerous. Finally, I was being forced to realize that.
Every early vision I'd had of Jasper made sense as I looked at him on the ground. Emmett was snarling something in his ear, and whatever he had said seemed to bring him back to his senses. After closing his eyes for a moment, he looked up, his gaze instantly meeting mine. The moment he recognized me - for the first time since leaving me in front of the Spanish building - all of the pain and guilt I'd seen in my visions poured into his eyes. Suddenly, I could understand what I had seen. I had never thought that the visions I used to see of him looking like this would involve me - I had almost given up on trying to figure out what it was that would cause him so much grief. But it was me. It hadbeen me all along.
Months ago, before I had even spoken to him, the realization that our lives really wereintertwined would have thrilled me. I would have figured that I could prevent this, could have found a way around it...
Now, the realization that it was me causing him all this pain was like getting hit with a ton of bricks. I just wanted to make it go away.
Before I could even take a step towards him, I felt strong arms holding me back. I twisted around to find Rosalie gazing sympathetically at me.
"You can't go to him," she said, her voice almost soft. I'd never heard her sound so compassionate. Despite the sudden change in character, she still seemed like the sanest Cullen at the moment. "He's not completely in control of himself yet."
I struggled against her hold. "I don't care! Let me go!"
"Alice-"
She was cut off by the sudden appearance of Edward and the male nomad, who looked quite apologetic. I felt a surge of hatred. He could feel as sorry as he wanted, but that didn't help the girl he had murdered, or the boy he had helped corrupt by coming here. My boy.
"I apologize on behalf of myself and my comrades for hunting here," said the nomad, bowing his head. It all looked like a perfectly choreographed skit, like he had said this all before. I didn't buy a word he said. "We did not realize the territory had been claimed. We will go now-" he shot a glance at Jasper, Emmett, and Bella, "-before we inflict any more damage."
I practically growled as his gaze lingered on me, a quizzical light entering his eyes. I didn't care how strange my predicament seemed to him. I just wanted him gone.
"What happened to going?" I spat when he remained stationary.
A flicker of amusement crossed his face as he turned to Edward. "Does the human know?"
Edward's response was curt. "Yes."
The nomad bowed his head again, this time in understanding. "We will go now," he repeated, turning on his heel and vanishing into the now too-still afternoon.
I stood completely still, my eyes fixed on my feet as my tears dropped onto the ground in front of me. Today had been just too , just once, couldn't my life remain calm? Normal, even? Just this morning I had been happily skipping out to meet an untroubled Jasper in front of the Webers' house.
That felt like a lifetime ago now.
Time didn't seem to pass as I stood there, my mind void of any thought other than my desire to find a way to comfort Jasper, to wipe the guilt and horror off of his face.
When I looked up, it was just in time to see him disappear into the forest beside the school.
Have you been reading the facts at the beginning of the chapters? o: Is there anything you'd like to hear about specifically in a future fact-dump?