Chapter 5: Our Unnatrual World
A story by Yellow Smoke
Alle right's belong to their rightfull owners.
Year 1956
The rain was softly hitting the windows of Leavenworth High School, as it rained once more in this shitty town, which Willow had grown to hate over the last week. The town in itself was a joke to her, taken from a bad story, and Willow had never thought these kinds of society actually existed. Filled with small minded people, who whispered the latest gossip to one another, and looked down upon everyone who was just slightly different.
Even now, as she tried to suffer through the last class of the week, before they all could go home, Willow felt how they whispered behind her back. She felt how everyone in class stared at her, snickered, and whispered to one another about her. One should almost think Willow was an alien with green skin, but no she was just a plain girl from New York, who managed to get hit by a car on her first day of school. And that was enough for these students.
Because to them it was strange Willow had chosen to run out in front of a car, and Willow couldn't exactly argue with their logic, it was strange. The popular girl Sharon Marshall had of course shared with everyone how upset Willow seemed before she ran, and so everyone now believed something was wrong with Willow, and the strangest rumors had begun to emerge. Willow had tried not to pay them any mind, but she had heard several of them whisper she wasn't well, that something was wrong with her head.
And if that wasn't enough they also whispered about how she was born outside marriage, and some had begun to refer to her as a bastard, which almost made Willow's blood boil, although there was little she could do about it.
But Willow knew she was the new girl, and looking at Leavenworth she would probably be the new girl for as long as she lived here.
"Loook…" a weakened low hoarse voice tried to say beside Willow, loud enough for her to turn her head without thinking, only to stare straight at Edward Cullen.
Willow hadn't talked with him since the accident four days ago, not as much as a word, but it had turned out they had english together, and so Willow hadn't been able to get rid of him completely, just like she had to share history clases with Jasper Cullen, and geography with Alice Cullen.
And as Willow without a thought had turned her head, she now silently looked into Edward's golden eyes, who seemed to be staring at her, questioningly, as he clearly hadn't been the one who had spoken to her, but had noticed her sudden movement. He even raised his eyebrow, as if to ask what was wrong, and Willow couldn't help but notice he looked like a perfect statue from the ancient greek. Just like Willow couldn't help but notice his eyes were golden in color, while they had been almost dark yesterday, another thing she would have to add to her list.
But it wasn't the reason she had turned her head, and as she realized it was the person behind him who had spoken, his dead mother as she had named the female ghost. It quickly made her turn her head away as she blushed slightly, knowing she had caught his attention. But as she looked at the clock she realized she hadn't taken any aspirin since this morning, which explained why she could hear them, and so discreetly she grabbed the small metal box from her satchel, and popped a white pill into her mouth. She knew Edward Cullen was watching the whole thing, but she turned her head away quickly, and chose to stare out of the window instead. She knew she should try to listen to what Mr. Chapman was trying to teach them, or her teacher would notice at some point as Mr. Chapman was a teacher worse than the devil, who already had chosen to hate Willow. Strangely enough Willow had hoped they could have been more friendly to one another after her accident, but it had the opposite effect on Mr. Chapman, who's hate grew by the day.
And as her snobbish teacher continued to teach, Willow stared out of the window, as she tried to ignore the presence of Edward Cullen, while she watched the puddles of rain in the schoolyard, each drop of water creating a small circle on the surface.
There was such a strange tension between Willow and the Cullens. On monday she had been hit by a car, or that was the story, although she knew it wasn't the case. Because Edward Cullen had saved her, although there was no reason to save her, because they knew that she knew something. Willow was however not sure the family of murders knew just what she knew, but nevertheless they knew about her knowledge. During the next day Willow had been at the hospital, and afterward at home, while she tried to recover, as her aunt liked to call it. Willow had however quickly learned there was no reason to stay at home, as Patricia had treated her as though she was five, insisting she stayed in bed, while she took her temperature several times, although she never had a fever. That, and the many prayers from Patricia was enough for Willow to almost run to school the next day, if only to get away from her crazy overprotective aunt. Willow had dreaded going back to school, but compared to staying at home it was a blessing, and Willow was starting to see why her uncle chose to drink beer in the backyard.
Not to mention Willow was tired of her aunt's ghosts. The young beautiful man with the gunshot wound wouldn't leave her alone, and Willow had been forced to take more aspirin than she normally did.
But Wednesday morning she had once more walked through Leavenworth High School, while she heard the whispers and the stares from curious eyes… the Cullens however, stared at her with a certain level of hatred, or at least one of them did.
Willow had never spoken to the blonde goddess called Rosalie, but the girl had at every occasion, whenever it was the hallway or the cafeteria, stared at Willow as though she was a curse. She had in every way made it clear Willow shouldn't try to get near her, while her large bear-like boyfriend more than once had tried to distract her from Willow, but she got the message from the ice queen.
Emmet, Jasper and Alice Cullen on the other hand didn't seem to care about her. Most of the time they clearly tried to avoid her, although she could sense how they looked at her when she wasn't looking, but that was how the whole school acted, and Willow couldn't fault them for it.
Edward Cullen however was the one who confused her the most, because he changed all the time. He stared like the rest of them, but his mood seemed to change like the wind, and sometimes he seemed curious, while he at other times seemed to stare at her with hatred, and often he was almost frustrated at her, although Willow couldn't tell why.
But their behavior did tell Willow one thing, there was truly something wrong with them, and they knew she knew. That alone was enough for Willow's heart to beat even faster, as she had gotten herself into a horrible situation, and she of all people knew they were dangerous. Which only should have made her stop her investigation of them, but she just couldn't let it go, and as people said, curiosity killed the cat.
None of them had however said a single word to her, and from what she could gather they were probably going to leave her alone, if she left them alone and kept her mouth shut, and so Willow tried her best, but she couldn't help but notice all these small things about them, that she wrote down in her notebook. There were so many things she didn't understand about them, and the list of abnormalities seemed endless to her. And one question just created a new one, with no answers, because that was the only thing Willow hadn't gathered any of, answers.
But she had learned a lot about them, just through observation. First of all, they were all pale, far too pale to be normal. Willow couldn't really decide why, but she knew it wasn't normal. Also they seemed to be cold. She had only ever touched one of them, being Dr. Cullen, but if she could, she thought it would be the same with all of them. And they were not just cold, they were ice cold, and cold enough for Willow to wonder if they could melt in the sun. Another thing she had noticed was their eyes, because strangely enough they all had the same golden eye color, which made no sense as they were adopted, and as she had to add to her notebook, their eye color seemed to be changing… but why and how?
But she had made plenty of other notes as well. They were all beautiful, so beautiful they had to be models for a magazine, or hollywood actors, yet they weren't. All of them had the voice of an angle, or at least Willow guessed an angel would have to sound just like them, and they were in every way the definition of the perfect human being.
Willow had also noticed they didn't seem to eat that much, as they more or less pushed their food around on the plate, unless she looked directly at one of them… then they would eat. But did they actually need to eat at all?
Because the more Willow had observed them, the more she began to wonder if they even were humans? It was such a strange silly thought, and Willow had more than once shut the idea down, but then she recalled that she herself saw ghosts, so maybe, just maybe, there was more to this world than what Willow knew. She was however still too afraid to go any further with the idea, but the thought kept coming back to her, and she knew she would have to visit a library soon to get further information.
But at this point, just the thought of the Cullens seems to send chills through her body, and she couldn't deny it had turned into an obsession. Why was rather hard for her to explain, as the wisest thing she could do was to leave them be, and try to get her own life under control, but perhaps that was the very reason she was so obsessed. Because it was easier to find out what was wrong with someone else, than to solve her own problems. Willow was compared to this family for once not the odd one, but still she felt rather jealous as she looked at them.
Because despite the fact they were strange, dangerous even, they had each other, while Willow never had anyone. Sure her mother sort of knew something was wrong with her, but Jane Quinn wanted nothing to do with it, and had given her asperin rather than support. All while the Cullens at least had one another, despite the fact Willow knew they were murders, or at least some of them were.
Willow was only pulled out of her daydreaming as the school bell finally rang, and indicated the last class of the day was over, and the weekend had begun. Willow was almost surprised at how quickly people were able to leave the class, and Mr. Chapter barely managed to yell they had an essay due on monday before everyone left, never looking back once. Willow gathered her things as well, before she grabbed her satchel, and went to the hallway as everyone else.
Due to the fact she had been staring at the rain for the last hour, it shouldn't have come as a surprise for Willow it was raining heavily as she stepped outside, but it however did, as rain was pouring down as never before.
"Oh god…" Willow muttered under her breath, as she looked down at her red woolen coat, knowing it wasn't going to survive well against the rain, and she would be soaked by the time she reached Birch Street 16. But there wasn't really any alternative, and so she would simply have to deal with it, as she began to walk at a fast pace, to try and reach her destination as soon as possible. Most students had that idea, as they jumped onto their bicycle, while the lucky ones simply got into their cars, while a few chose to wait. But Willow wasn't going to spend another minute at this place, and would rather get wet.
Willow however never managed to walk that far, she only got off the school's property, and away from the main street, as a navy blue colored car rolled up beside her and stopped, which made it clear whoever drove it wanted to get in contact with her. And it was a nice car, a Bentley from what Willow knew about cars, and her mother would call it classy, meaning it had to be expensive… and from what Willow could tell, it was. And she briefly recalled she had seen it at the schools parking lot, parked by a red car, which was just as expensive.
She couldn't see the driver, as too many raindrops made it hard to see much, but as the driver leaned over, and opened the passengers door, she got a glimpse of coppery hair and pale skin, and knew exactly who it was.
"Get in," Edward yelled, clearly trying to be heard over the rain, as he with his hand pointed to the empty brown leather seat next to himself.
And Willow was almost in shock for a moment, as the ancient god was speaking to her, after staring at her in silence for a week. It left Willow speechless, unsure what to say, as she felt confused and shocked, all while fear began to creep into her as well.
Because she wasn't supposed to take a ride from any stranger, and especially not someone whom she thought was a murderer. Her mother had told her a lot of shit over the years, but she had told Willow never to trust a stranger, yet the word no simply couldn't pass her lips.
"Come on, you are getting soaked!" Edward yelled as Willow continued to just stand and stare at him, while rain soaked her clothing, water running down her face, and her curls were starting to drip from all of the water. "Or do you want to get sick?" he then added, and Willow made another bad decision in her life.
She truly had no good reason for getting into that car, none, and her heart only seemed to beat faster, knowing she was playing a dangerous game. She couldn't even give one good argument for what she was doing, she simply did it, and a part of her was starting to wonder if she actually was insane. Seeking danger to feel the adrenaline pump through her veins.
Nevertheless she got into the leather seat, and closed the door, while she had little care for the fact that the seat would get soaked as well because of her. Edward Cullen however didn't seem to care either, as he simply nodded toward her, as he began to drive once more… rather slowly, as though he wished to drag time out.
And Willow's heart was beating fast, far too fast for what was considered good, and for a moment Edward Cullen looked at her, as though he could hear it as well.
"I really shouldn't be accepting a ride from a stranger," Willow then finally managed to stay, while she tried to look at the road ahead of them, afraid of looking at Edward, and even more afraid of looking in the back of the car, knowing all the dead ghosts would be trying to talk to her.
"We go to the same school," Edward nicely pointed out, completely calm, as he seemed to be busier staring at Willow than driving the car itself, his eyes so intense Willow swore he saw her very soul.
"That doesn't mean we know each other," Willow argued quickly, but glued her eyes to the road ahead, while regret seemed to run through her brain… how could she be this stupid and reckless, when she knew this guy had killed people?
"Are you afraid i am going to do something to you?" Edward Cullen then asked her, his voice so calm and mysterious it sent chills down Willow's spine, yet his question was anything but nice, yet it felt so natural for Willow to be asked. Although this conversation in every way should make her bold from this car.
"No…" Willow then said, as she had thought about for a few seconds. "You could have killed me already if you wanted too," she said, and strangely her own words seemed to calm her, as it was true. Edward could simply have allowed her to be hit by that car, or he could have strangled her in the hospital.
The strange thing was Edward never tried to protest, or claim he had no intentions of killing her, as most people would have done. Instead he just let it slide, as they both knew it was the truth, and there was no reason to speak further of it. Instead he simply changed his whole tone and demeanor, as a small but rather friendly smile appeared on his face.
"Why don't we start this whole thing over, i am Edward Cullen?" he introduced himself, and Willow had to turn her head away from the road, looking into his eyes, as if to ask if he was serious?
But from what she could see, he actually seemed genuine, and Willow wasn't entirely sure what he was offering, friendship? Or simply a new start? Should she even shake his hand? But at this point Willow had nothing to lose, and so she took his cold pale hand and shook it, knowing it was another bad idea. She didn't even consider how dangerous it was to shake some who was driving hands.
"Nice to meet you, i am Willow Cross," she said, and tried to smile, although it felt forced, as she was still terrified of this man, and confused over her own actions. What was she even doing here?
"So Miss Cross," Edward smiled, and once more looked out on the road as he drove. "What brings you to Leavenworth?" he asked her, although it was a stupid question as the whole town knew why she was here.
"My mother remarried…" Willow answered slowly, unsure how to put it. That new beginnings didn't have space for old trash like her? That her mother probably had wanted to get rid of her for years. "You?" she then asked Edward, as she rather would get the conversation away from her bad luck.
"My mother was tired of the city life, so we moved somewhere quiet," Edward answered swiftly, almost as though he had answered the questions a million times before.
"I think you got to the right place…" Willow mused, as she attempted to lighten the mood… which surprised her, as she had no reason to try and be witty. Yet before Edward was able to say anything, a deep hoarse weak voice managed to get Willow's attention.
"Loook. Aaat… Meeee…" the voice desperately tried to say, and without thinking Willow with a gasp turned her head around, to stare at the backseat, later cursing her own actions.
It was of course the pale sick dead lady, who had the same coppery hair as Edward, and she almost seemed as though she was trying to scream, as she finally had gotten Willow's attention. Willow however quickly got herself under control, although her heart was trying to jump out of her chest, as she turned back around in a heartbeat, her face just as pale as Edwards now.
"What did you see?" Edward asked curiously, although he didn't seem as concerned as most people would be. Almost as though he had anticipated it.
"You seats," Willow snapped back quickly, as she felt slightly panicked, and didn't have much time to think. It wasn't that long since she had taken her last aspirin, and so she shouldn't even be able to hear any ghosts yet. It was strange, and to Willow rather scary as her pills had worked well for years. The strange thing was she couldn't hear any of the other dead ghosts on the backseat, all those dead men with marks at their neck, bleeding, she could only hear the woman.
No matter what Willow snatched her satchel from the floor, and rummaged through it, as though she was mad, until she at last found the small metal box and swallowed two pills in record time, as she wanted to make sure nothing could disturb her. It wasn't before she carefully had put the box back in her satchel that she realized Edward Cullen was staring at her, his eyebrow raised in an unsaid question.
"I have chronic headaches," Willow lied smoothly, as she had told this lie many times before, although Edward didn't seem to buy it.
"I don't think it's wise to eat that many pills in such a short span of time," he carefully argued, as he eyed her satchel with the pills for a second, as though he was trying to guess something. He had already seen her take on at school, and for a second Willow wondered if he had seen her eat more than those, was he watching her?
"I know what i am doing," was Willow's only reply, and Edward seemed to leave it at that, as they pulled up at Birch Street 16, and Willow grabbed her satchel before Edward got any ideas, or said more on the subject of her intake of pills. Which she knew wasn't ideal. "Thanks for the ride," Willow managed to say politely, although she didn't wait for his response as she got out of the car as fast as she could, and ran up through her front door, not because of the rain, but because of Edward Cullen.
At no point did she turn around to wave, or watch if he had driven off, as she got the door up as fast as possible, and fled inside her house, while her heart tried to escape her chest.
"Willow is that you dear?" Her aunt Patricia called, as she heard the door open and close. Willow could see she was sitting in the living room, with her back to her, as she was obsessed over some magazine. Her dead eyes read it with envy, as she never had what the stars of Hollywood had. But as she heard the door she lifted her head, and looked up at Willow with a smile. "You are soaked dear!" she exclaimed, as she nervously got up from her comfortable couch, and rushed over to Willow, already mothering her once more like she was five. "God we can't have you get sick once more," she began to fuss, and got a towel from the kitchen before Willow could say much.
It wasn't before the slightly insane lady began to dry her hair Willow snapped out of her shocked state, and took the towel herself, and began to dry her face.
"It's fine Patricia, i will go upstairs and change now," she tried to say politely, and gave her a small smile.
"Call me Aunt Patsy dear… only my mother called me Patricia," her aunt smiled back to her, and squeezed her hand, clearly trying to show affection to Willow, and Willow felt sorry for her. If only she had been given the child she actually longed for, and not someone like her. "Now up you go, I will make you a hot cup of tea," he aunt told her, and Willow nooded, as she went up the stairs… but stopped halfway and looked at Patricia.
"Has… has my mom sent anything yet?" Willow asked nervously, as she had asked the same question each day, but Patricia's facial expression told her everything before she answered.
"It will probably be here soon," her aunt tried to calm her with a smile, but they both knew her mother wasn't going to send any letters as she had promised. Willow knew it was wishful thinking, but a part of her still hoped that her mother one day would send her a letter, but it was a dream and nothing more.
And so disappointed she walked upstairs, trying to keep her own tears at bay.
It wasn't before Willow was in her room, finally having calmed down and in dry clothing, that she began to wonder how Edward Cullen knew where she lived? Because she had never given him her address…
Willow tried to push it aside, telling herself that everyone knew where the sheriff lived, but did they really? Willow could feel how her heart began to beat once more, wondering if Edward Cullen was keeping an eye on her, and if he had been driving to her house anyway? Paranoid she began to wonder if he was still out there in his car, but she shrugged it off once more, as Patricia was far too curious not to have mentioned an expensive car was parked outside their house. She hadn't even noticed Willow had been given a ride home by a stranger, which probably was for the best, or Willow would have to explain that as well.
But Willow still added it to her journal of strange behavior, as a note called ´he knows where i live´. Just like she added that Edward Cullen indeed was cold, just like his father, as she had shook his hand today, and could confirm it herself. But was it enough for her to conclude all of them were cold?
And so Willow spent the rest of the evening in her room, thinking about all of it, as she, like a Sherlock Holmes, tried to find meaning in madness… because perhaps she was turning mad? Perhaps the Cullens were ordinary people?
But then Willow remembered all their dead ghosts, Edward Cullen who saved her from that car accident, and how he visited her at night at the hospital. Willow might be insane, but so were they.
And so Willow continued her search through the weekend, and as soon as she could Saturday morning she excused herself, and went to the library. A part of her felt bad about how little time she had spent with her uncle and aunt, because although Frank couldn't care less, she could sense Patricia really wanted a daughter to do girly things with. Unfortunately Willow just wanted the type she was seeking to fill that role, as she prefered a life in her own company.
Willow wasn't even sure what she was seeking at the library, as she finally found it a few streets away from the main street. A small old house, which once had been used by a family, but at some point the small wooden house had been turned tino a library, although it to Willow wasn't of much use. The librarian was rather surprised when Willow stepped inside, and the elderly woman with round clases had barely left her alone, and had more than once offered to help Willow, as there was no one else in the library… except an elderly ghost, who very well could have been her dead husband. But for once he was a ghost who seemed to be at peace with himself, watching as his wife lived on, content with his position.
And at last the librarian left Willow alone, while Willow began to search for medical books, as she tried to start researching body temperatures, and eye colors. But as she sat there at the old library, surrounded by the heavy smell of old books, and dust, she didn't learn much. These books were simply too old to be of use, and at last Willow began to search through articles, searching for murders that might fit the description of those dead ghosts that haunted the family.
But as the sun began to leave the sky, Willow realized it was impossible to find anything, and it wouldn't give her any answers, only questions.
And it left Willow feeling frustrated, as there was nowhere else she could seek this information. If the library didn't give her any answers, there was nowhere to go, and no one to ask, unless she wanted to get locked up in a straightjacket. As she ran through those articles, she more than once tried to convince herself it would be best to leave all of this behind, and try to get settled in this town, but nevertheless she kept searching.
At one point she even considered throwing yet another book away in frustration, as nothing went her way, and tears started to spill, as everything began to feel impossible. And as Willow didn't want the sweet old librarian to notice her tears, she sought toward the end of the shelves in the corner, pretending to be searching for a book.
But there, Willow, almost by luck, eyed a book that caught her attention. At first it was it's orange cover, but as she read the title it caught her attention even more, and she dried the tears from her cheek.
"Our unnatural world…" Willow read out loud to herself, as her fingers brushed it's cover. "by P. L. Foster," she muttered, as her heart beated faster for a moment, and her blood pulsed through her body.
She had really tried to let go of the whole thing, the idea of them being something that was inhuman, as she knew that was an insane thought. Yet as she stood there with the orange book, she couldn't help but bring it with her… hoping it would help her.
"If you are into those books, you should try to read Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," the liberian told her with a smile, as she saw what Willow held in her hand when she walked up to her, and before Willow knew what had happened, she had loaned those two as well, and was on her way home, ready to continue her search.
But as she got home she realized the book she had found was rubbish. Written in 1921, it wasn't exactly of much use, and it was an encyclopedia for supernatural beings, but none of them really fit the description of the Cullens, and she almost laughed at herself, as she sat at her desk at home, and realized she had waster her time.
Still, she was strangely fascinated by a picture on page forty one. It was an old drawing, made of ink, containing several horrified people who stared at a monster, who was leaning over a deffendles dead girl. And Willow couldn't help but notice the blood that seemed to be streaming out of her neck, just like the Cullens victims had blood running out of their neck.
But Willow once more told herself she was being silly, as she went to bed… but the title of the page had burned itself into her memory.
Vampire.
So Happy New Year everybody! i didn't expect to update today, but i had the time, so hope you guys enjoy it when you get there! Anyway a strange conversation with Edward, who is going to be up to something very soon... and Willow is getting closer to the truth, although she isn't aware yet!
Anyway thanks to those who leave a comment, it really means a lot to me, so keep going!
Se you all i 2021!
