A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry again for the delay. I'm not going to be updating as much as I thought I could. I had a whole story in mind and then my creativity began to dwindle… Oh well. This chapter may, again, be confusing, but over the next few chapters, things should start making sense.
PLEASE NOTE: What happens with Alice happens around the same time as the time period in the prologue: I just totally forgot to add it. Remember that Edward has been gone for a couple of years in the time period the prologue. Then what happens to Edward in this chapter takes place the week before Bella gets into this time period.
I apologize profusely for the confusion: I'm completely unorganized. Gahhhh…
Anyway, enjoy!
Chapter 2
APOV (some time earlier)
I can't let him do this anymore. He's been gone for far too long. I've already seen what will become of him and I want him home. Carlisle's dead heart still needs his first "son." I turned to Jasper, looked into his golden eyes, and said, "You know what I have to do."
He understood Carlisle's heartache better than anyone. He nodded and held my small body in an iron grasp. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
He loosened his grip, whispered a tearless goodbye, and I ran.
EPOV
"Thank you very much for the opportunity, Mr. Swan," I said, bowing.
"Not a problem, Cullen. Do you have any belongings?" Charles Swan asked, eyeing my small and battered suitcase with a cigar in between his fingers.
"No, just this small thing that includes another set of clothing."
"Fair enough. I will supply you with a set of work clothes as well as a suit for any formal parties we may end up having."
"Thank you, sir."
"Sure. Now go get acquainted with the other servants. They will show you to your room."
"Yes, sir."
BPOV
After only a few seconds of swimming in the darkness, I heard a feminine voice calling my name.
"… Isabella…."
Why is she calling me by my full name? No one calls me that.
"…Isabella…."
My head is throbbing.
"…Isabella… Isabella!!"
What?!
My eyes snapped open and I found myself lying in a king sized bed with frilly sheets. Above my head were two unfamiliar faces. The blonde, to my right, had her face all scrunched up in slight fury. Her bobbed hair made her look like she came right out of a silent movie.
Looks like she's the one trying to wake me up. I studied her closely, looking at her clothes. What the hell is she wearing?
"Isabella, please come along. The weather is quite lovely today and we're sure it would be the perfect day to find a more apposite suitor for the ball."
I glanced to my left and found a more friendly face with chestnut locks and light brown eyes. Her, too??
Both of the girls had flapper-esque dresses: the blonde's black dress was sequined with green to match her eyes while the brunette's was a plain white that did nothing to accentuate her curves. With long pearl necklaces and gloves, they looked at me intently trying to understand why I was looking at them so strangely.
I gathered my surroundings again, now realizing that I was definitely not in Phoenix.
"I thought I fell and hit my head…" I muttered aloud, not realizing they heard.
"Well, your father will be less than thrilled if he discovers you slept in and didn't follow through with the plans for today. Falling and fainting isn't an excuse to him anymore, Isabella, you should know that by now," the blonde sneered.
"You really ought to come with us, Isabella. We will make sure you've recovered to the fullest and finally find a man to attend the ball with," the brunette smiled.
I widened my eyes, my pupils twitching side to side, staring at them a second at a time. "Look, I don't know who you guys are or what you want, but I know you've got the wrong girl."
The blonde sighed deeply, exasperated. "What are we to do with her now, Angelina? She's delusional again, as always."
"Oh, Laurel, come now. We must have patience with her if we expect her to be able to work things out normally once more," the brunette, Angelina, replied.
I glared at them, their bodies turned away from mine. "Okay, you two. Listen to me." Their heads turned, looking at me again. "I don't know where I am and what's going on, so can you please explain to me what's happened?"
Angelina smiled, but Laurel huffed, stood up and strode out of the room. I didn't even get the chance to investigate my surroundings before Angelina's voice peeped up once again.
"Isabella, we are currently in your home—"
"I figured as much. Can you please explain to me what year it is and where exactly we are?" I interrupted.
She sighed. "Do you really not know?"
"Why else would I be asking?"
"Alright, but this is the last time I'll tell you. We are in New York City and it is 1929. As a matter of fact, the winter ball is coming upon us soon, so if you do not come to your senses, you will never find the appropriate suitor." She gazed at me sadly. "You really don't remember anything?"
I couldn't believe what she was saying. What, did I time travel or something? Am I really delusional? I looked around frantically again. Maybe I should pinch myself. Hopefully I'll wake up at the bottom of the stairs at home, wrangled in a mess of limbs, but not crazy. I ended up pinching myself hard on the arm.
"Ow!" I yelped, but Angelina was still there, staring with a concerned look.
"Oh, Isabella. I will get one of the servants. You stay in bed a little longer. This is worse than you've ever been. You must get some rest." She got up and left the room.
I eyed my surroundings once again, trying to regain my sense of reality. Although the room was mostly taken up by the large bed, it had a little white desk on the right in front of a window with bright sunlight shining through. After studying the room enough to the point where I was definitely wide awake and not crazy, I realized I stepped into an unfamiliar century and started freaking out.
I am so confused, I thought as I got out of bed, realizing I was wearing the most ridiculous looking nightgown I've ever seen in my life. Why the hell am I in a different time period? Maybe I'm in a coma… maybe I just can't wake up. Stupid, clumsy Bella… Why can't you be graceful or, at the very least, not danger-prone?
I got up and looked at myself in the mirror: I was not expecting what I saw.
My hair was in messy ringlets with more reddish tints than I was used to. My hair NEVER curls. What the hell is this? My skin was completely pale with no scars or freckles. I could be in a commercial with skin like this. The creepiest aspect that changed about me, however, was my eye color. I've never been fond of my boring brown eyes, but once I realized they were a deep sea blue, I definitely wanted my dull brown back. Am I even myself anymore? All my facial features were the same: my body type didn't change, either. While in my trance of trying to distinguish my new look from my old, I heard a soft knock on the door.
"Come in," I said hesitantly.
In glided an incredibly thin young woman the size of a young girl. With a short bob haircut and a pixie-like stature, she carried a tray with a bottle and a washcloth, looked at me and said with a beautiful voice, "Good morning, Miss Swan. I'm the newest servant in this household: Alice." She placed the tray down on the nightstand, curtsied, and said, "Please have a seat while I apply some medication to your head." (A/N: I figure they might have some ointments for their heads for headaches, so I created some for delusions, too!)
I sat at my vanity and stared at myself some more and thought to myself, I'm so screwed.
A/N: I hope you guys liked it and that it wasn't TOO confusing. If there is any confusion, let me know and I'll explain in the next chapter (hopefully, without giving anything away). Anyway, please review!!
