Chapter 12

Germany 1712

BPOV

Standing at the side of the road, the large trees provide me with a generous amount of cover. Giving me enough protection from the moonlight. Making sure my pale skin wouldn't be illuminated, something that would tip of the human man that is currently coming towards me, that something was wrong.

I had been in the area for a while now, waiting for the man to come my way. Travelling with Tristan, Kent and Ivan had been a challenge at best. Playing games and killing innocent people, using them like they were worth nothing to them. As much as I loved the rich flavour of human blood, killing random people had started to cause doubt in my mind.

Tristan had sensed my doubt and found a way to help me.

He understood, a meaningless kill made me feel angry and sad at myself. After a few decades it had taken away all my joy of living. Even the moment of the kill had started to become less and less exciting for me. So he came up with a plan. Whenever I was in need of fresh blood, he would go into the nearest town and ask around for me. Finding the most sorry excuse for a man possible. The man coming towards me was just that. If the small town rumours were right, he had a habit of taking from women what he wanted, when he wanted and where he wanted.

The thought itself caused my cold blood to boil and venom to start pool in my mouth at the prospect of bringing justice to the vile man. It was only with these motivations, I could justify to myself what I was about to do.

Looking ahead, I noticed a large man approaching me. His swagger telling me, he was drunk and confident. The moment he noticed me, his step seemed to become more aggressive.

"My lady." Calling me from far away. He barely managed to say the words. Tristan had really given him a few rounds of beer too many. But I didn't care,it would only help to lessen my guilt.

Stopping, I waited for him to come closer. As he did, his eyes locked on my chest and rest there for a moment. Hunger rising in his eyes. It was disgusting and again the word Justice rushed through my head.

Stepping closer to me, he took another good look. As he did, I stepped forward. Causing the moonlight to hit my skin. The moment he did, the smug look on his face disappeared and I knew. I would have to make my move... soon.

London 1712

The image of a dirty face flashed into my mind. The face was framed by dirty ash coloured hair, matted to his head by the rain that was poring down. But even with the rain and the cold he must be feeling, a smile was on his face. I knew why. Feeling, how his hungry eyes they looked at me, giving them free reign as they slowly slid down my body. Lingering on my chest areas and face. Licking his lips, he leaned closer.. ready to start speaking but he didn't. Instead he leaned back and his satisfied grin was gone.

Pain and Fear

Both emotions rushed through me simultaneously, hurting my head as his eyes turned from being hungry into feeling desperation. Just before he tried to step back a pair of crimson eyes reflected in his eyes.

Falling to the ground I curled up and wrapped my arms around my legs. Feeling the man's fear rush through me as his attacker stepped closer. There was nothing I could do but watch as he reached out in front of him. Trying to fight free from the hands that were holding him but he stood no chance. The death grip on his shoulders held him into place as someone stepped closer.

Finally I could see her. It was the same attacker, like in every other vision I had. Each victim was different but the woman was the same, every single time. I watched as the tiny woman with the extremely young face, framed by wild dark hair put her mouth on his neck. Claiming her newest victim.

Screaming out loud at the same time as the man screamed. I watched all the muscles and veins in his face bulge as the man, too late, finally knew what was happening. His eyes rolled back and he let out one more ragged breath before becoming completely silent.

I closed my eyes, holding on to the silence... finding the darkness that was caused by the lack of visions in my head a comfort. Sobbing I wrapped my arms around my knees tighter and rocked myself to sleep. Hoping that the numb feeling would carry on in my dreams. I almost fell asleep but was roughly brought back to reality when I received a kick in my back. The pain shot through me and caused me to be wide awake.

Stretching my legs, I placed one hand on my lower back and used the other to push myself from the ground. Crawling forward on one hand and my knees. Standing in front of me was a man, behind him a carriage.

"Your in the way." His stare was ice cold as he stared down on me.

Nodding I moved a few meters before collapsing back on the ground. I was still close to the entrance of the theatre but I didn't care. The pain from being kicked in my back, combined with exhaustion were to much to handle. I ignored the disapproving sounds made by the driver of the carriage as he walked round and opened the door.

A man and woman got out, the man started walking towards the entrance but the woman stopped the moment her foot touched the ground.

Crawling backwards further, I can feel her eyes staring at me. But it isn't the fact she is staring at me that makes me crawl backwards and try to hide. It is the fact she seems familiar. I have never met her but the instant her large golden brown eyes examine my face, I can feel the strong emotion of recognition flood through my body. A deja vu. And I know why, without a doubt she has been in my dreams.

Letting go of his hand abruptly, she ignores the carriage driver who is trying to help her out of the carriage and walks past the man who accompanies her. Tilting her head sideways as she stares down at me.

"Who is she?" Her voice is melodic and rich, comforting like a mother.

The carriage driver quickly steps in front of me, standing in between myself and the pretty lady. "She's just a crazy little thing, living on the streets. Nothing a fine lady like yourself needs to look at, I'm sorry for not moving her."

Looking at me over his shoulder with a disgusted look, he spits at me before turning back to talk to the lady. "They call her the street prophet. Always going on about things she claims are going to happen. If you ask me.." Leaning closer he whispered the last words, making it impossible to hear what he was saying about me.

It is unneeded, after all. Even without hearing his words I know my own reputation by now. After living on the streets for as long as I have, it is the least of my problems. The pretty lady however moves so she can look at me past him. A curious smile on her face as she examines me. "Really... now do they." His warning seemed to fail to impress her, in fact she looked rather amused. Something that makes me a little bit proud of her.

Stepping past him, ignoring his attempts to block the path between us. She takes a few more steps towards me. I watch her from the ground. Looking up at her, I could finally clearly see her eyes. Staring down at me. They are the lightest brown I have ever seen. And I find myself staring back at them with awe but at the same time noticing how strange they are. It leaves me feeling unsure and ashamed of myself. Confusing me to the point where I no longer know if I should get up and run or beg for mercy instead. The palms of my hands start to feel sweaty and my heartbeat starts to increase. As they do, I can feel my head getting filled with visions.

Most of them had the woman with the crimson eyes in them. The last however shows the woman standing in front of me. Focussing I try to hold on to that image. Pain shoots through my head as the one image seems to stop and evolve. A vision starts playing back in my head with amazing clarity, unlike anything I have ever experienced before.

The woman with the light brown eyes was sitting with a book in a music room. Except now her eyes were darker and she had purple shadows under her eyes. She appeared to be staring outside instead of reading the book she was holding. Staring into the pitch black night with an expectant look on her face.

Finally she looked away from whatever she was staring at and put the book away as a man came in. The moment he did, she looked up at his face. Hope showed in her eyes. "Did you..." Her voice faded away as the man smiled apologetic at her and shook his head.

"No sign of her." Coming over to her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulder and bend down. Gently kissing her on top of her head as he held her.

I could see the information, or lack there off, seemed to hurt her very much. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rest her cheek against his chest. Together they held each other, a sad look on both their faces. They just stood there, looking outside, staring at something I could not see.

Her eyes looked sad, almost like she should be crying. And when she opened her mouth, the warm rich sound was so dim and full of sorrow. I could feel her pain just by listening to her face. Staring outside, she took on more sigh before speaking out loud. This time I could make out the last words clearly.

"Where are you Bella."

The vision faded away. But the desperation in her voice lingered in my mind. Without thinking I repeat the name.

"Bella"

Breathing the name out loud. I instantly feel both the man and woman stare at me. Her eyes locked on my face as she steps closer. Dropping to her knees also, obviously not caring about the fact that the dirty street will ruin her perfect cream coloured dress.

"What did you just say?"

Wrapping her hand around my upper arm, she has surprising strength as she pulls me into a sitting position on my knees. Her amazing brown eyes staring down into my face, intense.. as if she is looking for something.

Stuttering I try to look away but she just uses her other hand to grab my chin and turn my face to look at her. Even if she wouldn't have been stronger than me, I still would have obeyed. There is hardly any strength left in my body and the kick to my back wich has started as a sharp pain is now rapidly turning into a scary numb feeling spreading down my legs..

Causing me to loose feeling in my body. Pain is causing my body to loose consciousness, taking care of me in a way that nothing else could. Looking up into her eyes once more, I take a shaking breath before repeating the name one more time.

"Bella."

After that my eyes close and my vision goes black. Slumping forward, the woman moves her hands away from my shoulders and the next thing I feel is a pair of arms around me. Lifting me from the ground without any effort. My hair brushed back and a cool hand cupping my face.

"You'll be fine. We're taking you to somewhere safe and secure."

The warmth is back in her rich voice again. Leaning into the hand against my cheek I smile. Allowing myself to relax and trust her. I stopped fighting and let darkness take over as I was lifted up in the air and passed into another set of arms. Feeling how they held me tight against a strong body. We started moving and I realised they must have taken me in the carriage. Smiling I buried my head against the chest of whoever was holding me. Drifting away in a deep sleep with a smile on my face. Knowing that where ever she was taking me... somewhere safe and secure couldn't be worse than living on the streets of London.

I woke up lying with my head on a soft fluffy pillow, sitting up a thick blanket feel down around my legs. Rubbing my eyes, I opened and closed them. Checking to see if my visions had finally taken over my insanity.

But nothing happened, the room stayed the same. Looking around I could see I was in the biggest bed I had ever seen, it was situated in the middle of a bright room. Across the room was a set of drawers, a small writing desk and a set of chairs. Blinking I turned sideways to see a large window. Sitting in the window seat was the woman who I had met last night.

"How are you feeling?" The rich sound of her voice, warmed me. Making me feel like she was genuinely concerned about me.

Pushing the blankets, I tried to get out of the bed. For some reason she had taken me to her home, but I did not belong in a luxurious room in a large house. My place was on the streets. My feet touched the floor, finding a warm rug. But the moment I tried to stand up, I could feel a sharp pain shoot through my lower back and legs. Causing me to fall forward.

Arms caught me, lifting me back up on the edge of the bed like I weighed nothing. In front of me was the woman again, looking up at me with a concerned look on her face. Stunned I stared at her, glancing over my shoulder.. and back again. " How did you.."

She just shook her head and laughed softly at my astonished response. "That's not important right now. Instead you should focus on getting better."

Swinging my legs back in the bed, she pulled the warm blankets back over me and helped me lean back against the thick pillows. The movement also hurt me, but it was tolerable. Nothing like the sharp cutting pain I had experienced when trying to stand.

"You have very bad bruising on your lower back, Carlisle thinks the swelling is causing the pain." Getting up she walked to a small side table I hadn't noticed earlier and poured a glass of water for me. Staring at the object, I carefully took it from her. It was the first time I ever held a glass in my hands and could drink from it.

Taking a sip, I was surprised how clear the taste was. Nothing like the water I would find to drink from while living on the streets. Quickly I finished all of it and handed the glass back to the woman.

"Are you hungry?" Taking the glass from me she sat it down on the side table, tilting her head slightly as she waited for an answer. Before I could speak my stomach rumbled. Dropping my eyes, I nodded. Trying to hide my embarrassment.

When I looked up, the room was empty.

Leaning back, I winced at the pain. Reaching down and placing one hand over the spot that hurt most. I could feel how warm it felt to the touch. As I did, my eyes grew heavy and the next moment my head was filled with the image of myself.

I could see myself in the streets of London. It was just a flash, but I was walking with my arm linked through a young woman's arm. Both of us were laughing. But as I tried to focus on the vision, I noticed it wasn't me at all. My hair was longer and shining, my skin was pale and flawless. As I felt the vision slip away, I took one last look at the other woman. I recognised her from my previous dreams, she was the one. The one that killed all the men.

Gasping I opened my eyes and struggled to calm myself.

Sitting next to me on the bed was the friendly lady again. Grabbing her arm, I pulled myself up in a sitting position. "Please help me?" Tears started to run down my face as the confusion took hold of me.

"What's happening to me... and who are you?" Questions flooded from my mouth, together with more tears. I struggled with my breathing and reached out for the woman sitting next to me on the bed. Clutching onto her sleeve. To my surprise, she removed the fabric from my fingers and places my hand in hers as she awkwardly put her other hand on my arm and patted it.

" Take long deep breaths, try and relax." Speaking soft, she forced me to focus on her words. It worked, steadying my breathing I felt my body relax.

" My name is Esme. My husband and I brought you home yesterday evening after you passed out on the street. You're hurt.. but now you can relax and recover. No one can hurt you here." Leaning closer she placed a kiss on my forehead. "From now on you are safe."

As she leaned back, I could see she was just as surprised by her actions and words as I was. "Thank you." Stuttering, I looked away and noticed a plate with food on the side table.

"Is that for me?"

"Yes." Letting go of me, Esme got up and collected the plate of food for me. Taking it from her I could see some cold meat, sliced apples, bread and cheese.

"Wow, this looks amazing." Picking up a piece of apple I put it in my mouth. It was the first time I had tasted a fruit this sweet and rich. Something was adding flavour to natural taste of the apple. "What is this?" Putting another piece of apple in my mouth, I allowed for the sweet sugary sensation to melt on my tongue before chewing on the apple.

"Apple slices with honey, according to a friend of ours.. it is nice. Is it?"

Stunned I stopped chewing and stared at her, she just gave me the most sugary delight I had ever tasted. And admitted to never tasting it herself. Closing my mouth I quickly swallowed the piece I was chewing on and picked up the last piece. "It is very nice, would you like the last slice?"

Holding it out for her, I could see her nose wrinkle and her mouth become a tight line. "Maybe not, sorry about that." Placing the piece back on the plate, I watched her relax.

"You're right... maybe not." The smile was back on her face again. "Why don't you finish your lunch, I'll go find Carlisle and ask him to join us so he can check your injuries."

She left me alone and I relaxed back into my pillows. Eating all the food, forcing myself to slow down as much as possible. Knowing that the rich cheese and sugary apple slices would shock my body. It had been a very long time ago since I had last eaten this much food.

After I was done, I sat up and leaned out of bed far enough to set the plate down on the side table. The movement was not without pain and that caused me to worry again.

How long would it take me to recover and worse.. would Esme allow me to stay here that long, especially if she would find out my little secret.

I had almost exposed myself this morning when I had that weird dream about myself and that girl. Frowning I tried to remember some details but nothing new would come to me.

All I knew was that the girl I was laughing with, arms linked as we walked down the street. That was the same girl who had tormented my nights and days for the past months, slaughtering men with a devilish smile on her face. Almost like she enjoyed what she was doing.

Shivers ran down my spine as the memory of her actions flooded my mind. Taking a deep breath I tried to find something else to look at and finally let my eyes rest on the writing desk across the room. On the corner was a small vase with roses, a delicate pink color.

Closing my eyes I remembered the scent of roses, going back to when I was a little girl. Living with my grandmother at the mansion, she had been a maid there and after my parents death she had taken me in.

I did small chores, only being 6 years old. But whenever I didn't have any work to do, I would sneak out to the garden and smell the flowers. There had been a large collection of roses, but none a beautiful pale shade of pink like that one. Like this house and the woman who owned it, they were outstanding.

A cold hand made me open me eyes. Sitting on the edge of the bed was a handsome man with the same light eyes. Esme was standing behind him, with her hand on his shoulder.

"My name is Carlisle, would you mind if I looked at your back."

Nodding I let him roll me on my stomach and pull the blankets down, exposing my backside. Holding my breath, I prepared for him to touch me. Remembering how it had been the last time a man touched me. But the feeling was nothing like it, there was no discomfort. Just a little bit of pain as he gently pressed his cool fingers against the painful area on my lower back. As he did little bursts of pain shot through my legs, making me whimper.

"Does that hurt?" His voice was concerned as he gently applied pressure again and I moaned at the pain it caused me.

"That's good." Pulling the blanket over me helped me turn back so I was on my back again. Gritting my teeth I looked at him. "You think it's good that I'm in pain?" Not trying to sound accusing or angry, I failed miserably as my voice shrieked as I said the word pain. He just chuckled and nodded.

"Yes, you have very serious bruising but as long as you can still feel pain, it is my experience that once the bruising is healed the pain will go away and you will be good as new."

"How long will that take?" Glaring at him, I leaned back.

"A few weeks, during that time. Esme and myself will take care of you." Kissing the woman's hand, his eyes showed so much love for her. I realised that without a doubt they were lovers, a married couple.

"I can't accept that, you letting me stay here for the night was very generous but I have no way of repaying you. I'm just a poor girl, crazy.. a witch if you believe the people. My place is on the streets, living there and causing nobody any harm." Tears started to run down my face again.

Esme shook her head and sat down next to her husband. Grabbing my hand and holding it like I was extremely fragile. "Please don't say that. No young girl should spend her days, living on the street. We would be honoured to have you as our guest, the only thing I ask is one thing in return."

Blinking, I stared back at her. Perhaps they needed a new cook or maid, would it be so bad to work for these people.

"What is that?"

Esme and Carlisle smiled at the same time. "Tell us your name?"

Stunned I stopped crying and felt a timid smile form on my face. My name, no one had asked my name in such a long time. Taking a deep breath a lifted my chin and smiled wide as I spoke.

"Mary Alice."

Holding out my hand, I was relieved when Carlisle took it. Wrapping his large cool fingers around my tiny palm.

"Nice to meet you Mary Alice."

I laughed nervously as I heard my name spoken out loud by his gentle soft voice. They joined me and together we laughed. And for the first time in years, I felt like getting a second chance at life.

A/N Alice is in the story. Hope you like it!