Thank you for all the support on this story! Forever After will be up tomorrow!
I just want to point out, this story is not very futuristic, I make small references to how the world has changed in 130 years but I don't want this to be a dystopian or sci-fi FanFiction so I haven't looked too much into it.
"Can I write one of your family legends for our English assignment?" Elijah asked me. He was sitting at his desk; I was lounged across his bed doing homework. This is how we spent every afternoon. As soon as school finished at two thirty I went home with Elijah and we did homework together.
"The assignment is creative writing Elijah. You have to make it up," I laughed.
"It is made up… right?" he asked with a wink, I rolled my eyes.
"Of course it's made up but fine, if you want, but it's still cheating," I said with a laugh.
"I kind of want to write the one of the little girl getting burnt alive and coming back decades later super powerful," he muttered to himself.
"That's the most farfetched one of them all," I laughed.
"Exactly," he grinned back and turned to write it down. I looked out at the window and I briefly realised the sun was setting. It sent a wave of panic went through me and I remembered what my mother had told me this morning.
"Elijah I have to get home!" I called over to him. I reached for my phone to see it was dead because I forgot to charge it the night before.
"Why?" Elijah frowned startled by my sudden mood change and quick movements. "You go at six, it's only five."
"I promised my mom," I said grabbing my things quickly.
"Okay," he mumbled and went to grab his jacket.
"It's okay I'll be fine," I said pulling my own on and grabbing my backpack.
"I'm walking you home Clara. I always do," he said with a glare.
"Fine," I smiled sweetly and we left, Elijah was always a gentleman and I wasn't going to try and argue, I was slightly scared anyway after my moms warning. It was already dark by the time we reached the park. This was the bit I hated doing when it was dark but I always felt safe with Elijah. There were a lot of parks in Chicago, it had been enforced a few decades ago to try and improve the environment.
As we walked through the wooded area I could swear my heart was beating out of my chest.
"What's wrong Clara?" Elijah laughed. "You look scared."
"I don't know. I just want to get home. I promised my mom I'd be home before dark," I said and stepped closer to him; he smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulder sweetly.
As we walked through the trees I was sure I was hearing things. There was a snap and a growl and I froze on the spot.
"What was that?!" I asked Elijah.
"Nothing, probably just a bird in the trees," Elijah tried to assure me. It didn't work though, I heard more moving. My head whipped round to find where it was coming from I saw yellow eyes in the tree line, only they weren't the burning alluring yellow eyes that the Cullen's had, these were vicious, horrifying mucky yellow. I didn't let out a scream until the eyes moved and out came a large dog.
Elijah moved me behind him, colliding with the dog. It bit him on the arm and I heard him shout out in pain.
"Elijah!" I screamed and ran to him. He punched the dog and it whimpered slightly but stood back up and came straight for us. I shielded my friend, hugging him and closing my eyes tightly, waiting for the moment when the dog would attack us both but nothing happened. I looked up. The dog had stopped; it looked behind us for a moment before suddenly turning and running away. I turned behind me but didn't see anything. The dog was definitely looking at something but it wasn't there now. I turned back to my friend, Elijah had his teeth clenched and he was breathing through his nose quickly.
"Come on!" I gasped and pulled him onto his feet. He gripped his arm to his chest, I already knew it was badly wounded, the blood was everywhere.
We part walked, part ran to the edge of the park. I had no idea what the dog had been doing there to begin with, was its owner around? Why wasn't it on a leech?
"Oh my gosh are you okay?" someone asked running over to us, it was a stranger but if I had seen someone as bloody as Elijah id be worried too.
"A dog attacked him," I said shakily.
"I'll drive you to the hospital," the woman said.
"Thanks," I managed to smile; others came over too, making sure we were okay.
"I'm Eve," the woman said as we climbed into her car.
"I'm Clara, this is Elijah," I said, Elijah was still grunting and trying not to cry in pain.
We arrived in a few minutes, luckily the hospital wasn't far from us and I took Elijah's cell phone out his pocket to ring his mom.
"Dr Cullen!" someone called and my head whipped round. I had already phoned Elijah's mom and was now calling my own but I barely even heard her answer. I watched as a young blonde man came into the ER. He was pale, beautiful and I was sure I saw the light bounce off his eyes making them gold. What was with all these golden eyed pale people recently?! Was it my own paranoid delusions? Was I seeing things? Or did I really just meet eight vampires today?
"Clara?! Clara?" my mother's panicked voice brought my attention back to the phone I was holding. Elijah was now talking with Dr Cullen and ushered into a private room.
"Clara where are you?!" she called.
"Mom! I'm sorry, I'm at the hospital, Elijah was bitten by a dog on our way home. I didn't want to leave him," I told her, tears were in my eyes now. The weight of the situation fell on me. I knew Elijah would be okay, he wasn't going to die but he took that bite for me. The dog was coming for me.
"Oh my gosh sweetie. I'll be there as soon as I can," she said.
"Don't worry mom, I'll be home soon," I said.
"No, I'm coming to get you, you will be taking the car to and from school from now on, no arguments," she argued and hung up. I could drive but I chose not to. School and Elijah's house wasn't that far away and my mom was extremely aware of the environment, I had it drilled into me as a child that if my destination was within walking distance I shouldn't be driven there. She says I shouldn't be polluting the air any more than it already was. Most cities in America were covered in smog and you couldn't even see the sun set anymore, people had to watch it on screens put up around the city. We were lucky, Chicago wasn't as bad as others but it didn't mean I wanted to make it worse, I liked being able to see the sun in the sky. My mom normally promoted me walking to school every day but something had scared her, maybe it was the dog that bit Elijah or maybe it was something else but if my mom was ordering me to drive to school every day, it definitely meant she knew something I didn't.
After I hung up I went into the room that Elijah had been taken to. He was sitting on the side of a bed, his arm was being bandaged up.
"Hey Clar, look what I got!" he grinned. My heart wasn't racing anymore, we were safe in the hospital but I had never felt such an adrenaline rush before.
"What Eli?" I laughed slightly.
"The doc said it's likely to scar, I'm going to have a battle scar!" he said happily. I laughed off any tears that threatened to come at the sight of my best friend being mauled by a dog. He was such a dork.
"I can't believe you. You get nearly mauled to death by a dog and you're happy about it because you get a scar."
"Too right. There is a silver lining to everything," he grinned at me when I came to sit next to him.
"You're Clara? His friend?" the doctor asked me. I looked up to see I was right about his eyes, they were gold. I nodded with a small smile. "Well you were very lucky to have such a brave boy to protect you. I'm sure by the size of this bite if it had been on your arm it would have been far worse," he said to me.
"Yep that's me, Elijah, protector of the small," Elijah grinned and wrapped his other arm around my shoulders.
"I'm glad you're so happy about this Eli." I rolled my eyes but leant into him, I was glad he was okay more than anything.
"You're all done." Dr Cullen said with a smile just as Elijah's mom came into the room.
"Oh Elijah!" she gasped coming over.
"I'm okay mom, I saved Clara," he said proudly.
"I can't believe it! Where is that dog? Where was his owner?" she gasped.
"I'm going to have to go," I said and kissed Elijah's cheek. "My mom will be waiting outside. Glad you're okay Eli and thanks for saving me," I said to him, he smiled at me and I grabbed my bag and walked out the room. I took one last look at Dr Cullen and he just happened to be staring right back at me. I blushed and pulled my hair over my shoulder to hide my face as I ran to the exit of the hospital. My mom was just getting out of the car.
"Clara!" she called. I ran over to her and hugged her.
"I'm okay mom, I'm okay."
"I told you to come home before dark!" she said with wide panicked eyes.
"It's okay mom I know, I'm sorry, we lost track of time," I said and we got back into the car.
"Is Elijah okay?" she asked.
"Yes, it was a nasty bite but the doctor said it could have been worse," I edited the part out where he said if it had been me that was bitten.
"What was the dog like?" my mom asked as she drove us home. Sophie was in the back seat happily playing with one of her dolls.
"Scary mom, Elijah saved me. It had horrible yellow eyes," I said. I saw her hands tighten on the steering wheel but her eyes didn't move from the road.
"Oh dear," she gasped.
"He'll be fine momma," I assured her again.
"Yes. I suppose he will," she said with a frown.
When we arrived home we ate dinner in almost silence, my mom was in her own world, she barely spoke but it was clear her mind was racing. Sophie was telling me all about her first day at school when the phone rang. My mom shot up and answered it before going into the other room.
"shush a minute Soph," I told my sister and went to the living room door that my mom had closed behind her.
"We have to tell him don't we? Clara doesn't believe me, you'll have to meet her!" I heard my mom say to someone, there was a break before she spoke again. "The poor boy." She sobbed. "No it's not okay! That's my daughters best friend! You brought all this to my city!" she said and there was another pause. "Okay, just make sure Elijah goes with her," she said less panicky. I ran back to the kitchen and sat down to continue my dinner. Sophie was looking at me strange but she kept eating and didn't say anything about my eaves dropping. The living room door opened and my mom walked out.
"Everything okay?" I asked her.
"Perfect," she smiled. But I knew that smile. She was lying.
After dinner I went up to my room and watched TV by myself, I put my phone on charge and rang Elijah just before I went to sleep.
"How is my knight in shining armour?" I asked him as a joke.
"He's doing quite well princess, he's just glad you're okay," he humoured me. I giggled.
"Just making sure, I'll see you tomorrow Elijah," I said.
"Goodnight Clara."
"Night," I said and hung up. I fell asleep that night and yellow eyes plagued my nightmares.
The next morning I woke long before my alarm. I climbed out of bed and had a hot shower. My nightmares kept me up all night; they were a mix of the musky yellow eyes I had seen on the dog and the dazzling golden eyes of the Cullen's. I decided to leave early for school, since I was up anyway. My sister and mom were barely even awake when I strolled out the house. I was just about to get into my car when I saw Axton across the road. He looked angry.
"Axton?!" I asked, throwing my bag in my car and walking across the street.
"Oh hey Clara," he smiled. That smile sent butterflies off in my stomach.
"I didn't know you lived here," I said.
"Oh erm, yeah," he said and quickly closed his front door. I frowned but didn't question it. "Just moved here."
"Maybe we can car pool sometime," I smiled at him. Where had all this confidence come from? I normally ran and hid from boys, boys that weren't Elijah that was.
"I'm glad you said that. My car won't start," he said shyly.
"Oh well come with me then," I grinned, he smiled back, he was normally shy and conservative but his smile always told me otherwise, it was a smirk and it was like his confidence came out in his smile rather than his words. He followed me down to the road. I didn't know why I had offered him a ride, after all school was only a mile away, he could have easily walked but after last night I wasn't sure I wanted anyone walking out on their own, even Axton who seemed to be entirely capable of taking care of himself.
"Don't you need to tell your parents you're coming in my car?" I asked him.
"I don't have parents," he answered immediately.
"Oh I'm sorry," I frowned. "Whoever takes care of you then," I edited.
"My aunt… she leaves for work early and doesn't come back until late. She won't notice." He told me as we reached my car.
"Well jump in," I said and I sat in the driver's seat.
As we drove to school we sat in a comfortable silence, which was a nice change. It had me wondering about Axton's family, he said he had no parents and yesterday mentioned that he used to have a sister too. Did he lose them all? My heart ached for him at the thought, I knew the pain of losing a parent, I had lost my father but both parents and a sibling? I couldn't imagine my life without my mother and sister as well. I don't know how he could bear it.
"What's your first class?" I asked him when we arrived.
"History," he smiled.
"Oh me too!" I smiled back. I locked the car and we walked together to the school.
"I'm glad we're early. I was late yesterday. It was really embarrassing I didn't even go to history," he said.
"Oh neither did I," I laughed and led him to the library. He smiled when he realised where we were going.
"You skip classes a lot?" he grinned. I smiled back.
"Only when I'm drawing. I tend to forget where I am," I answered with a blush. The librarian let me in, I was a regular and I never caused trouble so she was happy to let me use the facility between my classes.
"I know what you mean," he smiled at me as we went over to our table.
"They need better lighting in here," he whispered to me as we sat down.
"Tell me about it." I laughed. "I've been here since freshman year and this is the only table I will sit at," I smiled, he smiled back and there was a few moments of not talking. Normally it would be awkward but we were just looking at each other and I couldn't bring myself to look away. He was mesmerising, every line of his face, the small stubble he had and his dark eyebrows.
"So Elijah… is he your boyfriend?" he asked me pulling out his notebook. I smiled at the fact he used paper and pencils. Not many people carried paper now, it was all electronic, all our school work was done on a tablet that was uploaded straight to the school database, all 'textbooks' were on tablets now, schools rarely used paper. The library had a wall of books but the rest was just tables and computers. I loved drawing though and whilst I was initially taught to draw on a tablet like everyone else my mom had bought me a sketch pad and pencils for Christmas one year. They were extremely expensive and I cherished them. I would much rather draw with pencils and feel the paper under my hands than draw on a tablet. The only paper around was for artwork and it was generally printed out anyway, only really old portraits were hand painted.
"No," I laughed too quickly in response to his question. I nearly choked on my laugh. I didn't know why I was so appalled hearing it from him, loads of people asked me that. I spent most of my time with Elijah and normally it didn't bother me if people thought he was my boyfriend because I knew he wasn't, but for some reason, Axton asking bothered me.
"Sorry for asking," he grinned back.
"Sorry, I just… no. He's not. He's my best friend. We've known each other since kindergarten," i told him.
"Never been there?" he asked rising one of his eyebrows. I looked at him through my eye lashes quickly before looking back down.
"Nope. I don't like him that way. Never have," I said.
"Good," he mumbled softly, I wasn't quite sure I heard it. I looked up at him through my lashes again and he was smiling sweetly at me. I blushed and dropped my head down again.
I didn't know why but I was suddenly extremely giddy.
Axton and I kept stealing glances during every lesson we had together. I wasn't sure what it meant but I couldn't stop looking at him. I tried to pay attention to Elijah instead. He was boasting about his arm, all our friends knew he protected me and took the wound for me. I was just glad he was happy and back to his ordinary self. The idea that the dog could have seriously wounding him frightened me to death.
It was the last period before lunch; I was putting my sketchpad in my locker when I felt someone lean on the locker next to mine. I closed it, hoping it was Elijah or Axton but it wasn't… it was Lewis. He was a bully, or more specifically he loved to bully me. I managed to avoid him most of the time but every now and then, when he hasn't tormented me in a while, he would purposely find me.
"I need you to do the biology assignment I have," he said.
"You're a senior, how am I supposed to do it?" I asked with a frown, he's never asked me to do his homework before but I definitely wasn't going to.
"You're smart, and you will make it good otherwise you'll make me look bad and we can't have that," he said with a smile, his teeth were slightly yellow, his hair greasy with hair gel pushed back from his head. He was disgusting to me and it took everything in me not to scrunch my face up in revulsion.
"I am not doing your homework," I told him straight and slammed my locker closed.
"Yes you are," he glared and grabbed my arm.
"Let go," I said trying to tug my arm out of his grasp, he was huge though, a jock and I was only tiny. I didn't have the strength to pull me arm free.
"Hey!" I heard a voice call as I tried to squirm out of his grasp, Lewis looked up behind me, but I didn't know who it was. It wasn't Elijah, and this person sounded angry. Lewis pushed me backwards and I fell against the lockers and onto the floor, I managed to catch myself with my right arm but I landed badly and sharp pain ran through my arm. I gasped and gripped my wrist. It was pulsing pain right through my body.
"Stay away from her!" I heard the person growl and suddenly he was in front of me. It was Axton. I could tell by his jet black hair and physique.
"Who are you? I thought she only had one boyfriend, the little guy," Lewis laughed.
"I'm deadly serious," Axton growled, there was something about him that had me in awe. He was truly threatening and I wished I could see his face but only Lewis could. Whatever Lewis saw had him backing off.
"Alright dude, I'll get someone else to do the assignment. Chill," Lewis laughed and walked away. Axton turned around to me, his face was neutral now and he knelt next to me.
"You okay?" he asked softly. I smiled up at him and nodded, even though it was a lie. I scanned the corridor to see kids that had watched the scene were now shuffling away. The only people that didn't were two of the Cullen's, Edward and Bella's siblings I assumed. It was the short pixie and the blonde guy. The guy looked like he was in serious pain; the pixie was pushing on his chest towards the door, soon the big Cullen and the blonde girl appeared, looking panicked and helping the pixie get the blonde out of the corridor. I frowned at them, he looked really angry, like he was trying to get to me. I shook the thought from my mind and turned from them back to Axton. He had been watching them too, he had an unreadable expression on his face.
"My wrist might be broken," I told him truthfully when he went to inspect it.
"Let's get you to the nurse," he said and held his hand out. I took it with my spare hand and he wrapped his arm around me in support.
"I haven't broken my leg," I laughed, he immediately dropped his arm.
"Right," he mumbled.
"It's okay though," I smiled and took a step back towards him as we walked down the corridor.
"Clara!" I heard a panicked call. It was Edward. I frowned when he reached us just outside the nurse's office. "Alice and Jasper said you hurt yourself," he said, truly concerned for me.
"Er I'm okay," I laughed. I hadn't really friended him or Bella, we spoke in biology but Edward was acting like I was his daughter after a deadly accident. "is Jasper okay?" I asked, remembering the look on his face earlier.
"Yeah he's fine, he was angry with the guy that hurt you," Edward said with a complete poker face, I wondered if he was lying though. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked looking down at the way I was holding my arm.
"She's hurt her wrist, I'm just taking her to the nurse," Axton answered for me.
"Can I see? I promise to be gentle." He said to me pleading, I didn't know why I trusted him. I just did. I nodded and let go of my arm so he could see. His hands were freezing cold and It took a moment for me to register this was a vampire trait but I let him continue. He was extremely gentle; he was feather light as he examined my wrist.
"Can you move your fingers?" he asked, I wiggled my pinkie for him.
"It's just sprained," he said with a satisfied smile.
"How do you know that?" I asked, he was supposed to be seventeen, how did he know the difference between a sprain and a break?
"My father is a doctor, even as a child I was curious about his work. He took me with him a lot of the time. I learnt a lot about the medical field. I could take you to him if you want. He'll help you," he explained with a warm smile. It was strange, his smile reminded me of my mother's smile after Sophie or I had hurt ourselves, it was warm and caring. Edward seemed far beyond his years.
"Is your father Dr Cullen?" I asked him.
"Yes," he smiled.
"I met him yesterday," I said. "He was really nice."
"Clara!" I heard Elijah's voice before Edward could answer; he was running down the corridor. I wanted to talk to Edward more but I knew Elijah would be fussing over me now; I wouldn't get to talk to him. Elijah ran up to me and hugged me; I flinched as my hand was jerked away from Edward. He had kept his hand around mine and it felt nice to have the cold around it. Now it was in the warm air and Elijah didn't seem aware of it at all.
"Her hand!" Axton called. Elijah pulled away and glared at Axton.
"Oh I'm sorry Clara. I heard that asshole Lewis hurt you. I just wanted to see you and check you were okay," he said in rant.
"I'm fine Elijah it's just a sprain." I told him.
"You're so clumsy," Elijah laughed, I shrugged.
"Yeah I have no idea who I get that from," I laughed, my mother was very graceful and from what I could remember so was my father. I hadn't even seen my sister fall yet, whereas by the time I was her age I had already broken a finger, sprained an ankle and had a concussion. Edward smiled at me, flashing his white teeth.
"It wasn't her fault, it was Lewis," Axton told him. Elijah looked up at him as if to say 'who even are you?'
"Elijah, you know my lab partner Axton, Axton this is Elijah my-" I went to say friend but Elijah cut me off.
"Best friend," he emphasised.
"Come on, I think you need to go see the nurse to get your wrist sorted," Edward said, eyeing the boys carefully. He pushed both of them out of the way; they were still staring at each other. Edward wound his arm around me and pulled me to the door.
"Is she okay?" I heard a panicked voice. It was Bella.
"She's fine. It's a sprain," Edward consoled her.
"Oh good," she sighed, she smiled at me like a mother to her child. I was starting to see more into their smiles than I should. Edward led me into the nurse's office and Bella, Axton and Elijah followed.
"What can I do for you all?" the nurse asked.
"Lewis Denral pushed her, I think her wrist is sprained," Edward said and I walked over to the nurse.
"Did it really need all of you to bring her here?" the nurse asked, seeing my entourage.
"No, we…" Elijah started to explain.
"One of you can stay with her, the rest should get to class," the nurse said.
"I'll stay," Elijah said immediately.
"Were any of you with her when it happened?" the nurse asked.
"I was," Axton said quietly.
"Then you stay, I need to know the details so I can record the incident, the rest go," she said as she examined it. Elijah looked pissed, really pissed.
"Fine. I'll see you at lunch Clara," Elijah said and left the room. Edward and Bella left slowly, they smiled at me once more before leaving me alone with Axton and the nurse.
Next chapter will be in Edward's POV so you can get an idea of their side of the story.
