A/N:Hey!Alright, once again, thank you so much for all your kind reviewing! And my favorites and alerts list is growing too...so, thank you everyone!!! Now, here's the long-awaited chapter. Happy reading & remember to review! - MissMei92
THE TALE OF ELIZABETH CULLEN
This was not what I had expected. Not at all. I survey the horrible disaster in front of me. Disaster, right. It was a calamity! And it was her fault! She smiled evilly, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction. My being was suddenly filled with utter rage and disbelief. She actually had the guts to still challenge me. ME. She obviously had no idea of what I was capable of. And neither did I.
Today was the day. It was my birthday, and I hated it so much. Because it reminded me of what Colin had done for me, on the last birthday that he'd been around for. The presents, the photos, but worst of all, the memories. Enough! 'NO MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT HIM!' I scribbled out in a chicken scratch script onto the nearest piece of paper, all my frustration coming out in a burst. My hand pressed the pen down so hard that it made a thin, feel-able outline in the sheet. I was about to crumple the paper up or shred it or tear it or something when I realized that it was the Science report that was due on Monday. I screamed, loud and ferociously. I had more than enough stress from everything else in my messed-up life. I banged my table, the force shaking the books, stationery and miscellaneous items lying all over it, sending some flying to the floor. I shoved my wooden chair aside and flung open my closet's door.
I pushed through the mounds of clothing and outfits, flicking away garment after garment, finding each unsuitable. I evaluated several party pieces that had been bought by Alice. They all screamed 'preppy'. Which made me want to vomit blood. I couldn't find anything which said 'me'. The 'me' that Colin had decided to forget. That's it! I've got to make my own outfit. I squeezed out a plain black tee and found my only black miniskirt. It was a family rule that we didn't wear black. Which was absurd. I fished out a sewing kit and an embroidery guidebook. I flipped several pages until I found the design. Yes, the design which would horrify Esme.
I severed the tee's sleeves, leaving them jagged and uneven, on purpose. I stitched the design on effortlessly, the product of, ironically, Esme's training. I grabbed a pure white scarf which would work as a belt. I found the arm fishnets that I'd bought secretly along with a pair of high black stilettos. I showered and put on the outfit. I looked in the mirror. It was a definite hard-core Goth look. It pleased me. I felt comfortable in something which said 'me'. This is the 'me' that you made, Colin.
I applied black nail polish on my fingers and toes, before using the mascara and foundation I'd stolen from Rosalie. I used a combination of pink glitter eyeshadow and purple eyeliner on my eyes. I wanted to shock as much as surprise. It wasn't hard to walk in heels. I'd been wearing them for 2 years now, ever since my feet grew out of the kiddy sizes they sold in the stores. The mirror reflection I saw was that of a 16 year old rebel teen with issues, not a 12 year old girl celebrating her birthday. And it didn't bother me one bit. Because underneath my cute, girly facade lay a hurt and dying individual.
The backyard porch was fully decorated with banners screaming 'Happy Birthday!' and balloons with annoying smiley faces all over them, plastered on in black ink. The buffet table was fully stocked with food and beverages. The ice-cream cake was chilling inside the fridge. The pool had been cleaned and the water chlorinated yesterday. But as I looked at my reflection in the pool, I saw only sadness. Not the cheeriness of the surroundings. Just the presence of me. The sad, unwanted girl. A tear dropped into the pool. But the mascara didn't run. I'd used waterproof mascara, knowing that would happen sometime tonight.
Someone was approaching. I straightened and turned, fully expecting a reprimand from one of my family members. I didn't get one. Because all I saw was a stranger. A very handsome stranger with messy hazel-brown hair. He looked like he was about 25 years old and he had dark, purple circles under his eyes, the same ones every vampire had. But his eyes...they weren't golden. They were red. Red as blood. I was frozen. This was a human blood-drinking vampire. His dripping red eyes laughed menacingly at me, as a wide smile spread across his face, revealing his teeth. I tensed. His razor-sharp teeth. And then...he'd disappeared.
I let out a shriek of fright. Someone else came running now. It was Jasper. "Elizabeth, are you...w-what...are y-you...w-wearing...?" His worried glance had turned into one of pure shock. My outfit. Of, course.
The vampire face, with blood-dripping fangs, on my tee was painfully clear. I'd sown on the word 'Bloodsuckers' beneath. It was offensive indeed. I flushed and rolled my eyes, desperate to hide my tongue-tied look. A moment earlier I'd have known exactly what to say. Because a moment before I'd only been angry and sad and rebellious. Now...I was...afraid. I looked down and kept my gaze fixated on my nail-polished toes.
He said nothing. I chanced a gaze up at him and I saw that he was still shell-shocked. Great. Wait, didn't he know that there was another vampire...a human blood-sucking vampire...here? He showed no sign of it. He just seemed to be an uncle who was horrified at his niece's choice of dressing. Nothing else. I must have imagined it. I must have. It couldn't be. And then, I giggled. Stupid girl! How could any vampire get into the house without Alice or my dad noticing? Especially the human-sucking type. It was plain impossible! I slapped my forehead, laughingly, which left Jasper bewildered at my reaction, his eyes bulging. Whatever I'd seen just now had to have been imagined. It was just the stress, playing cruel tricks on me. But it had felt real. The fear had been real. But then again, a lot of things had been real once before. Now they were shunned memories.
Jasper shook himself out of his shocked expression and tried to keep a straight face. He was trying to be strict. Something impossible for him to do. "Elizabeth. That..." He struggled to find the right words."...is not proper. It's your birthday. Wear something decent. And preferably not black..." He trailed off, his eyes dropping to my 6 inch high stilettos.
"Where did you get those from?" His eyes narrowed at me. I tried to smile and distract him. But it wasn't going to work.
"I bought them. I thought they'd be cool." I smiled an open-mouthed smile, my teeth flashing wide. He threw his hands in the air and sighed.
"Fine, you can keep those on. But, please change your clothes before your guests arrive." He scampered off quickly, obviously to find Alice and complain to her about my fashion choices. I sighed, relaxing a bit, before I realized that I still had to change.
I did change but I was reluctant, of course. I didn't want to change. I liked the way I looked. I changed into a beige mini and pulled on a white long-sleeved, cotton turtleneck. I was pushing aside some of the old cosmetics and jewelry in my closet, looking for an accessory to wear, when I accidentally toppled a black cardboard box. The contents spilled out, and my heart stopped beating. I stared at the things on the floor and felt my heart start bleeding again.
All the photos, the mementos, the cards, the keepsakes. Everything of him. Of Colin. I was scared to touch them. But it was painful to see them too. I shut my eyes and gingerly placed it all back in, until I came to something round and small. I opened my eyes when I saw what it was. It was the necklace, the one that he'd given me. The final birthday gift, from long ago. It was a butterfly, with pink crystal jewels embedded in it's wings. Every girl in school had complimented me on it, and I'd felt so proud to wear it. Until he left. That was when it became a scourge I refused to look upon, much less wear. That was when it'd been locked up in here.
But now, I found it to be the accessory I needed. I shouldn't have worn it. I should have put it back into the box, with everything else. But my heart told me not to. It said, "Wear it. Wear it and remember him. Remember his love. Let it heal your heart." I clutched it and just sat there feeling it in my fingers...until I heard the doorbell ring. Time to start the performance.
The party was progressing well. Everyone was here and enjoying themselves. Kyle had brought his new sound system along and was now blowing tunes and rap on the loudspeakers. Pretending to be a D.J. Classic Kyle. Some of the guys and girls were having a water balloon fight and I thought I saw Rachel and Harvey Ford go off in the direction of the koi pond. I didn't want to know what they were doing there. The cake had yet to have been cut. It was still chilling inside the fridge. I slipped my hand to my neck and fingered it nervously. I wished I still had Seraphina to talk with. But she'd left with Colin...my best friend and my boyfriend both gone...at the same time. I'd never called him my boyfriend...but now, I wanted to say that. That he was my boyfriend.
Danielle Drivers came strolling up to me, humming one of the rap tunes playing. "Hey, Ellie, why the glum face? This is your party. And I thought you and Kyle were an item or something...?" She grinned innocently and I felt like dying once again. I smiled forcefully, trying to get away from her.
Of course, everyone thought that Kyle and I were an item. Everyone obviously forgot about Colin and I because our relationship had been on such a low key that we were thought to be doing it only for popularity's sake. When it had been so much more than that. I'd only feigned interest in Kyle so that I wouldn't seem like some grief-stricken loser whose boyfriend left her and never contacted her once after.
"Danielle, I think Kristen is calling me." I outright lied, as I slipped away from my shadowy corner and strode off to where Kristen Pearson was standing. Kristen was as quiet as a deaf and dumb person was. But she wasn't deaf and dumb, of course. Just shy. She wouldn't talk about Colin. She didn't even know him. She was a transferee from some girl's school in California. And she'd only been a student here for 2 months. It was quite obvious that she was having problems looking any guy in the eye, since she kept her head down every time one approached her. Which was a shame, really. Since Kristen was very pretty, actually.
I decided to snap her out of her 'new-girl'-ness and introduced her to Justin Thompson. He was a talkative type and most girls couldn't stand his kind but I knew that he could probably talk up enough for both of them. So Kristen wouldn't have to say a word. Eventually, she'd talk with Justin on her own. She just needed some encouragement. Thus, I left Justin chatting up about something concerning the difference between donkeys and ponies, while Kristen twisted her hands nervously. It was cute to watch.
"Cake! Time for cake!" I heard my mom call. The cake. The song. The candle-blowing. Calm down, I told myself. Deep breaths. Take deep breaths. Nothing crazy was going to mess up the one moment when everyone's were on me. I hoped. My mom was carrying the pinkish-icing covered confection out and putting it down on the porch dining table. Everyone was milling around her, awe filling their eyes as they saw the elaborate design of an anime character on the cake. I rolled my eyes and walked up to the table too. My mom had sped back into the house, looking for the camera. I hadn't seen the pale, manicured foot sticking out in front of me until it was too late.
I tripped, I stumbled, I fell. I knocked over a loud-speaker. It fell into the pool. It short-circuited the whole house's electricity system. Everything went dark. And then, I realized that in the darkness and confusion, panic and utter hysteria had broken out. Kids were running around bumping into each other, the girls screaming madly, the guys shoving each other, the way any house full of kids partying would react. Do the craziest things possible at the moment. I shot a glance at the pool. It's lights were still on...but the speaker...it looked like there was still some live electricity flowing into the speaker. If any of them fell in...I froze at the thought. It was a good thing the porch dining table was a bit off from the pool.
They were all still behaving hysterically so I gathered some plastic chairs and used them to fence up the side of the pool. It was then that I realized someone was snickering...laughing at the confusion. It was Natasha. She had the most sinister look on her face and instantly I knew that she had been the one to unleash this calamity. I swore and then, the lights came back on. Emmett ran outside, attempting to fish the loud-speaker out of the pool, while Jasper was obviously sending calming waves into my classmates since they all seemed to have regained some sort of composure.
Carlisle came out with Esme, and they tried to soothe the panicking ( but obviously, they were just playing around by now...) children. And then, I saw my cake. The anime character's face had been smeared off and the words 'Elizabeth is a ---.' had been written into the cake with someone's finger, ruining the whole top of the cake. I cursed and swore angrily. It was her! It was all her fault! She couldn't handle being less popular for one single freaking second! She couldn't handle the fact that she wasn't liked by anyone at all and that I was!
And she still dared to smile at me. I screamed at her and the murderous rage coursing through me suddenly became so real. I really wanted her dead. I didn't know what force overpowered me after that. I was on top of her, punching and hitting her hard and furiously, as she screamed her screams. And then, I was pried off of her by someone. It was my dad. He had hurt in his eyes. Like he was disappointed in me. I tried to shake him off but his grip held strong.
Natasha was bleeding all over, and it was staining her crisp, designer clothing. She had already fainted. And suddenly...I felt so horrible and so guilty-filled. I could have killed her. I wanted to kill her...The tears came. I struggled free from my father's grasp and flung myself into the throng of shocked spectators blocking the entrance to my house. They parted for me. And I just hung my head, the tears were pouring out even more than before. I flew upstairs and into my bedroom, locking the door behind me, secure. I crumpled into a heap on the bed and started sobbing my heart out.
I didn't want to leave my room. I had tried to murder someone. And I could have...if my father hadn't stopped me. I was a monster. I wasn't human. I was still crying when I heard the voice. The voice was sweet and musical.
It twinkled as it said, "My, what a mess we have here." I looked up, and into the blood-red eyes from before. The vampire looked down at me with a sick, twisted grin.
"I was going to kidnap you later but seems that now you'll come with me willingly, won't you?" I hid my head beneath my black tresses. I didn't want to show my fear.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to suck your blood. You're not even human now, are you? Why would I think that you tasted any good...?" His voice sounded sickeningly appealing. He tilted my chin upwards. His eyes were still menacing but the look in them suddenly became unreadable.
"You should come with me. I'll bring you to people who won't think of you as a burden. People who will be honest with you. People who can help you. People who won't abandon you." The last sentence sent a pang of hurt through me. I felt strange when he said that. Like he'd known exactly how I'd been feeling all along.
"W-Where...will...?" I trailed off, but my gaze had suddenly turned hopeful.
"To Volterra, dear child. To the Volturi." And then, he swept me up and out of the open balcony window. He jumped downwards and landed, softly trampling the flowerbed beneath. He sped off at such an intense speed, carrying me in his arms. The world turned completely white and I was so dizzy from it that I must have passed out.
Because when I woke up, I was on board a private jet plane. I wasn't scared nor frightened. I wasn't worried that my family, my parents would worry. I'd tried to murder someone. A girl the same age as me. How could I have done that? I'd seen the hurt in my father's eyes and I knew it. They didn't want me. They didn't want me to mess up their secret. Their lives. I was a burden. And now, I'd been taken off of their hands. Permanently.
It sounded so final. So forever. I hadn't expected to cry over this. I'd known this all along. Yet, I did. I buried my face in the upholstery and cried. I was still crying when the jet descended down below onto the private tarmac and into a massive hangar. I was still crying when someone picked me up and carried me out of the jet and into a waiting limousine. I was still sobbing when we reached a secluded wall with an entrance and I was pushed down a sliding tunnel into the depths of darkness. I was still sniffling when they walked, almost dragging me, along the dark and shadowy tunnels and passageways.
In actual fact, I hadn't stopped the flow of tears yet even when they reached a grand hall and I was pushed to the very center of it, my head bowed, with my hair falling around my face. I only stopped when I heard a queer voice say, "Welcome, little one. Welcome to Volterra."
I looked up and I saw 3 ghostly pale, white figures dressed in fine black capes and robes sitting, on what looked like thrones, in front of me. One was smiling and he looked slightly scary with that smile on. Another had a bored, bitter look on and was staring directly at me, but as though I was invisible, and it seemed that he was looking right into me and seeing nothing at all. The last one had hair the color of snow in winter and he was regarding me dubiously.
I was at a loss for words but I realized suddenly who they were and just exactly where I was. I was in Volterra and now I was facing the Volturi: Aro, Marcus and Caius.