"And here you are, living despite it all."

-Rupi Kaur

Chapter Two: You'll Be Just Fine

Violently placed hand-shaped imprints were left among the stained glass. Her whimpers went unheard and unanswered, the residence unsettlingly void.

Kiera could hardly breathe, her breaths expelling from her lungs in cold shallow puffs. The space she was trapped in was cold and dark, with only a few slivers of sun slashing through the inky darkness. The reflection of the glass felt blinding as the light bounced off the glass and into Kiera's bloodshot eyes.

"Ina!" Kiera called, slamming her palms against the glass. "Ina!"

Like a coyote trapped in a set of iron jaws, Kiera's mind went white and she thrashed around wildly. There was not enough room in her tiny horizontal prison, the glass walls closing in on her. Even the beautiful stained glass covered in a multitude of spiraling roses couldn't charm away the terror Kiera felt. Like a brutal blow to the head, the realization of where she was struck her.

She was in something meant to buried six-feet under.

Kiera was in a damned coffin.

Again, Kiera cried for her mother, her voice growing raw. "Ina! Ina!"

The hands that freed her from her jail were cold and the grip far too tight- the bones in Kiera's arms shattered with a squeeze, an agonized howl of pain ripping its way through her throat-

Kiera screamed and screamed, but the hands never let her go-

Kiera blinked blearily out into the darkness. She had somehow tangled her blanket into a cocoon, trapping her arms to her chest like a swaddled newborn. Kiera gently kicked her way out of the comforter's gentle hold, her eyes quickly adjusting to the lack of light.

It'd been a while since she had that dream. Kiera was admittedly superstitious by nature, a sense of quiet trepidation making it's home in her bones. That particular dream always acted as a herald, the last call of a bird warning of danger in the area. Something was coming, something big.

Ramona never understood her strange sixth sense, claiming it wasn't in their blueprints. But Kiera's design was always a little off, always a little wrong. She's full of mistakes and imperfections, oddities that twisted her shape into something foreign. But at least Ramona would believe her if she brought it up.

Ramona always believed Kiera.

Kiera forces herself to sit up, shaking hands running through her dark tangled waves. Her hand brushed against her forehead only to come away damp, and she groaned lowly to herself. Waking up covered in sweat is one of the things she's thankful to be rid of one day.

A bitter smile worked its way onto her face as the dream replayed itself. Like a broken record, the memory always skipped as she screamed for her mother. Kiera and her mother never did have the best relationship. Their failure of a connection only shown crystal clear when Kiera woke up from her deep slumber, only to find her mother and her things gone. It wasn't that she had given up on Kiera eventually waking up- that could have been forgiven.

Her mother had simply stopped caring.

But Ramona had been there. Had pulled her from the coffin, her grip too tight as Kiera had flailed against her hold, too deep in her panic to recognize the touch of her older cousin. Ramona's umber eyes had anchored her to reality once more, her gentle voice soothing the frightened animal Kiera had become.

From that day on, it was only Ramona and Kiera, the two of them against a world that would gladly leave them behind. Kiera lightly slapped her cheeks, trying to shake the somber mood that had settled over her.

"Not today." She muttered, throwing her legs over the side of her bed.

Even though her soft blue comforter called to her, promising her safer, happier dreams, Kiera was wide awake. It'd be useless to attempt sleeping after that terrible memory.

She turned the knob of their dinky little shower to the highest temperature it would go, comforted by the steam that billowed out from the sliding glass doors. It was odd, thinking that one day she'd stop feeling hot or cold. A small desperate part of her hoped she wouldn't stop feeling in general. Kiera ran a hand across the mirror, her own sullen face stark against the fogged up glass.

'Ramona is right, you are dramatic.' Kiera thought to herself, her nose wrinkling.

Her black locks clung to her skin like dark seaweed as the water ran down her back, painting the picture of a crestfallen siren. Steam pooled around her, the heat of the water leaching out the tension from her shoulders. There was no guide book, no calendar that warned her when and how things would change. No two changes were the same- every Metamorphosis was different.

Metamorphosis. Kafka would laugh in her face. As if she were a simple insect, getting ready to change into her final stage. But she would sprout no wings, would gain no bright colors.

Thinking of her inevitable future only brought Kiera grief. She loved what she was, was proud of her abilities. But damn if it didn't threaten to give her grey hair to think about her heart just stopping one day.

A shiver crawled up Kiera's back.

She continued to lather her hair, determined to sell the illusion of a stupid girl unaware. Slow as can be, her eyes slid to the door. Kiera could see that the door to the bathroom hung wide open, but the room was eerily devoid of life. Without turning the water off, Kiera slid the shower door open and stepped out, hastily putting on her battered robe.

Kiera hasn't seen many horror movies in her abysmally long lifetime, but she was sure this exactly the kind of thing she shouldn't be doing. If she were watching herself on the screen right now, she and Ramona would be screaming to stay inside. Her only comfort was the familiar hum that clung around her.

Blue light nervously gathered at her fingertips, winking in and out of existence. Ramona swears Kiera's power was a fluke, considering their species simply don't have powers like hers. Nature-based abilities, sure, but having a green thumb was more likely than being a walking power box.

Making the light manifest from her arms was the best she could do, but she was sure it'd be more than enough to fight an intruder off. Away from the steamy bathroom, a sickly sweet scent lingered, trailing down the hall and to their front door. The color drained from her face, the alarm bells turning into sirens in her head.

The front door remained wide open, the dreary grey and green of Forks staring back at her. Kiera slammed it shut, knowing it'd do nothing to stop a vampire. It only gave her a false sense of security. Finding her phone, Kiera called for Ramona.

"Hey, I'm just finishing up, I'll be home in-"

"There was something in the house." Kiera said evenly, ignoring the way her hands shook.

"I'm on my way. Stay on the phone with me, alright?" Ramona's voice was fast to change, her true age seeping through her commanding voice.

"I'm pretty sure it's a bampira."

"I really hope the government doesn't listen to our conversations, they'd think we are nuts." Ramona was trying to lighten the mood, but Kiera could hear her car peeling out of the parking lot.

"What could they even do about it?" Kiera slowly made her way to her room, recoiling as the sickly scent got stronger.

Whoever had broken into their house had spent most of their time in her room. Looking around, nothing seemed to have been touched. But Kiera's eyes weren't as sharp as Ramonas. She felt like a scared child waking up from a nightmare and left crying for her mother as she impatiently waited for Ramona to get back home.

"I'm almost there, just be brave a little longer." Ramona's voice came out uncharacteristically quiet.

Kiera had forced her way back into the bathroom, her choice of hiding places slim. Whoever had gotten in would know were she was anyways, having already found her the first time around. Vampires didn't scare Kiera, they frightened her less and less as she aged, but anybody breaking into her house while she was showering should be on her 'don't engage' list.

A car door slammed shut and Ramona blurred into the house. Kiera let her Razor close, her hands slowly ceasing in their shaking. Ramona burst into the bathroom, her hair wild as random strands tried to free themselves from her braid.

"Whoever it was gone for now. You're sleeping in my room until I'm sure they don't come back." Ramona blew at the strands hanging in her eyes, her youthful face at war with the age in her hickory gaze.

"Do you think they'll be back?" Kiera asked.

"I don't think so, but I'd rather deal with your snores than risk you getting kidnapped from your bed," Ramona smirked.

"That's possibly the worst thing you could have said to me, Mona. And I don't snore!"

"You snore like you're trying to wake the dead. I'm just being realistic here, it'd be easier to watch over you if we stayed close. I know you can handle a bampira, but if they have a coven..."

Ramona moved past her to turn the water off, a crease forming between her full brows.

"What about my classes?" A thought hit Kiera, dread thickening in her stomach. "What about Bella?"

"What about her?" Ramona sounded lost in thought.

"What if it's a member of that Cullen coven?" Kiera barely caught herself from slipping across the tile, groaning at the sight of the water she tracked across the house.

"Then she's friends with a freak and I don't want you near them. " Ramona muttered. Kiera followed her as Ramona went to her room, inspecting where the scent was thickest.

"Mona. Do you think we should ask her?"

Ramona stopped her searching and looked at Kiera's pinched expression. "You want to tell this girl you've just met our deepest secret?"

"I'll take that as a no…?" Kiera winced.

Ramona narrowed her eyes. "Do what you want, but you'll be the one to kill her if she goes blabbing."


The second Ramona met Bella, Kiera could tell her cousin was trying to keep all her mean thoughts to herself. It's not that Ramona was particularly cruel, she was just was known for always speaking her mind. At the sight of Bella's dull hair and her sunken in the face, Kiera could feel the grimace Ramona made.

"Bella! How nice to meet you. I'm Ramona." Ramona had swept in for a quick kiss to Bella's cheek and a soft hug, totally going against Kiera's advice to not do that.

"Oh, nice to meet you too," Bella said with a stiff smile. "Ramona is a nice name." She added, giving Kiera 'help me' eyes from over Ramona's shoulder. It wasn't hard to do, considering Ramona was barely five feet tall.

"My room is just down the hall to the right, the door should be open." Bella looked relieved about that and breezed past them both, her hand clenching the strap of her backpack tightly.

The second she was gone, Ramona murmured, "That poor girl, she looks like hell."

"She's been through it too," Kiera said.

"You need to stop bringing home strays. They always break your heart." Ramona shook her head, sighing softly.

Kiera stilled. "Don't say that about her."

Kiera's mouth runs dry, and she can't stand to look at her cousin in the eyes. The last person Ramona had called a stray, had left Kiera to rot in the woods. It felt like Ramona was cursing them both, dooming their friendship before it even had a real chance to blossom. Desperation surged through Kiera, the idea of losing a potential friend already 'in the know' about her world tasting like despair at the tip of her tongue.

But Bella wasn't him.

"I only meant-" Ramona started.

"I know what you meant." Kiera snapped, brushing past her startled cousin.

Ramon's concerned gaze burned into Kiera's back all the way to her room.

Bella was sprawled out on Kiera's bed when she came in, an arm blocking the light from her eyes. It was a sad imitation of any Hollywood starlet, the illusion of drama ruined by how rumped Bella's clothes were and how frizzy her hair looked. She just looked exhausted.

Kiera made sure to close her door a little harder than necessary to let Bella know she was in the room. Bella moved her arm and looked blearrily at Kiera, her brown doe eyes cradled by dark circles.

"Hey." Bella yawned.

"You're still having nightmares?" Kiera's frown deepened when Bella nodded her head.

Kiera plopped down beside Bella, their shoulders pressing together. They both laid looking at the ceiling, the occasional giggle slipping from their lips at the NSYNC poster left behind by the previous resident. Justin Timberlake's face was decorated with a halo of red kiss marks, definitely the remnants of a moonstruck teenage girl.

She'd moved in this home with Ramona only four years ago, the place too far out to be fairly considered part of Forks. Kiera briefly wondered if she and Bella could have met sooner if she had gotten better faster. Maybe they could have braved the small world of Forks together.

Maybe Bella wouldn't have been left half a person.

Kiera interlaced their fingers together, her head leaning on Bella's shoulder. "What are you thinking about?"

"What I'm always thinking about." Bella replied.

Kiera mulled over her possible responses. On one hand, she wanted to chew up and spit out the Cullens' names, angry at how they've treated her friend. But Bella would clam up and shut down in her current state and Kiera couldn't afford that.

"Oh, yeah? Well, I was thinking about how Halloween is coming up. I think you'd make a mean Joan Jett."

Bella laughed. "Joan Jett? Then who would you be?"

"Who says I'm not already in my costume?" Kiera did her best to sound scary, which must not have worked very well since Bella just snorted.

"Are you always so ...dramatic?"

"It's in my nature to be theatrical, Bella, don't be rude."

They lay like that the rest of the afternoon, trading stories and telling tales. Bella spoke about Edward and his little family. It was almost comical, watching her omit bits and pieces of her stories. Kiera couldn't seem to find the right time to break the news to Bella, each moment over before Kiera could gather the courage.

'Not tonight. The right time will come, Ramona already said the vampire won't come back. You can wait a little longer.'


Glancing over at Bella, Kiera smiled to herself. It's been so long since she's had a friend. She promised she'd do right by Bella and tell her eventually. But, for now, she let herself have this.

Kiera came armed to the teeth with Halloween goodies. It was a week before Halloween, and Kiera had a bounce in her step. Forks may have been small, but it seemed holidays were something the town loved- there were trinkets everywhere. Some were more enthusiastic than others, with their lawns covered in the spookiest of decorations.

Kiera, on the other hand, stumbled out of her car with a box of the most cliche things Bella had ever seen. The face Bella made was too precious to not be captured, and a bright flash had the human girl blinking through her laughter.

"Is this a joke? Am I being Punk'd right now?" Bella asked between a fit of giggles.

"What's 'Punked?'" The corner of Kiera's mouth lifted, the cardboard box shifting in her grasp.

"It's a T.V. show, with Asht- you know what, never mind. What are you doing with all those old lady decorations?"

"Old lady decorations?!" Kiera freed one hand to cover where a vintage black cat's ears would be- if it still had them. "These are cute and vintage and you are just being boring!"

Both girls started cackling, Bella's sallow face coming to life with a flush. They hurried into the Sawn residence, cackling harder when Charlie gave the box an exasperated look.

Settling into the living room, they plopped onto the floor and started digging out the decorations. Bella had made it clear that her and her dad weren't exactly the festive types, but Kiera refused for Bella to settle for a boring Halloween. She'd begged Ramona to let her grab some of their old decorations from the crawl space, promising that it was for a good cause.

It only took one reminder of how depressed Bella had looked for Ramona to give in. After spending about a week talking Bella into letting them decorate the house, Bella had finally caved after Kiera promised she'd get to place them wherever she wanted them.

"Alice always had the perfect plan for things, so I never bothered trying to help," Bella admitted as they strung fake webs.

"Not everything has to be perfect. Things are allowed to be kind of messy, you know. Take Binks for example." Kiera patted the earless black cat, giving it a small smile.

"So you know Hocus Pocus but not Punk'd?"

Kiera shrugged. "My cousin insisted that movies were more important to know than television shows. Besides, how often do you watch that show?"

"Uh, not very often."

"Exactly."

The girls settled into a quiet routine, the two of them moving around each other with ease. It was nice not having to talk all the time, to just simply exist together. Bella would stumble with a decoration, and Kiera would coach her through it, letting Bella figure it out for herself.

Ramona had taught Kiera the same way when Kiera had first woken up. Kiera was confident enough with the basics of things, but it never stopped Ramona from poking fun at her when Kiera grew frustrated with technology. Kiera felt insanely old when Ramona would start talking about anything newer than her little flip phone.

Snap. Kiera's head whipped around to see Bella holding her camera, a tiny smile on the brunette's face.

"You can at least warn me next time." Kiera groaned. "Aren't people supposed to pose for pictures?"

"You have a camera but don't know about candids?" Bella teased.

"Candids are great for people who aren't me." Kiera grumbled, hip checking Bella to get around her.

"I'm just glad it's you and not me getting their picture taken." Bella played with the lens, dramatically zooming into Kiera's face.

"If you like it that much, you can always take up photography."

"I'm more of a book nerd than a photography nerd." Bella was fast to shoot Kiera's idea down.

"Isn't your friend Angela both of those? You can be versatile too if you tried, Bella." Kiera smirked then shrieked when Bella threw a plastic spider at her.

"How is Angela by the way? Have you seen her lately?"

Bella got quiet. "Not really, no." She murmured.

Kiera hmmed. "You should see her some time, I'm sure she misses you. Oh man, that's actually kind of a good one, I wish we had a scrapbook for these."

Bella bit her lip, fiddling with the camera. She seemed to be debating something internally, her thin brows pinching together. Without warning, Bella shoved the camera back into Kiera's hands and ran up the stairs.

Kiera blinked. "Bella?" She called out, popping her head around the corner.

Kiera and Charlie shared a look, the Chief sighing and getting up with his weathered armchair. Just before he could exit the living room, Bella came back down the stairs, her hands clutching something to her chest.

"We can use this one." She said, a pained look in her eyes. "My mom had gotten it for my birthday, I was going to use it for Ed- him, but…"

Charlie looked at the girls with an uncomfortable grimace. Kiera signaled at him to go back to his seat, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Your mom will be happy to know that it's going to good use." Kiera wrapped an arm around Bella's waist, giving her pale friend a squeeze.

For the first time since they've met, Bella grinned.

AN: I know there are no Cullens in this yet, but I really want to build up Kiera and Bella's friendship. I also don't want Bella to be so comatose while Edward is gone, I want her to start getting more confident in herself and have friends who aren't so 'perfect'.