AN: First off, I'm sorry I've taken this long to update! I was busy with school, tests, a new short story that is in fact a fanfic, and I've also been working on an original piece that I'm really excited about. Anyway, this chapter has actually been complete for approximately a month, but I could not put it up because it was not edited.

Two, it still has not been revised by my Beta, nor will it ever be. Things happen and my beta (David) will no longer be able to help me with this story, but I'd like to thank him once again for all his hard work, he truly brought out the best of this story.

Third, I have decided to no longer have a Beta for this story and it will remain that way. I will do all the editing so if you see a mistake, feel free to correct me. I will not be offended, in fact I'll actually be grateful.

And now I leave you to read this chapter; it was actually very hard to write, but I hope you will like it all the same. Enjoy! :)

0~O~0

Vile Beauty

Chapter 11: Representations

Edward's Point of View

0~O~0

Emmett sat on the couch, a very serious expression on his normally jovial face; he looked to be contemplating something but every time I tried to see what it was, he would think of something else.

"Hey Jasper, look at this." He said getting up and walking over to Jasper who was sitting on the armchair reading a book.

Jasper looked at Emmett skeptically, but placed a bookmark in his book before closing it and taking the sketch book Emmett offered him. As he looked down he grew very still and his mind seemed to stop completely for a few seconds before starting even faster than before. He took in every detail of the picture and I could see it as clearly as if it had been placed in front of me.

It showed his vampire friend, Bella, watching a tiny girl in a straight jacket, Bella's face was mostly emotionless, but her eyes showed a deep tenderness. The room was dark and empty except for the cot in which the girl was curled up, her face and eyes empty of any emotion.

Jasper quickly flipped through several of the pages and I could only see a few of them.

One showed Bella holding a girl in her arms in the middle of a small meadow, her eyes glazed over in a 'seeing past the distance' look; one I had seen on Alice's face many times when she had one of her visions.

Another showed a middle aged man fighting off, what appeared to be, two men and a woman; the odds were not in his favor in the slightest.

Several pages after that showed Bella in a kitchen, cooking something while talking to the extraordinarily beautiful, smiling child that sat beside her on the counter. He was looking at her with pure adoration and admiration.

Another showed Bella in a small room, looking outside at the woods that lay beyond with longing in her eyes and a piece of paper on her lap.

One after that showed Bella watching something through the crack of an open door. Her eyes held nothing but astonishment, pain and utter betrayal.

The one that immediately followed after showed her throwing a ring into a fire that held remnants of body parts. Her expression was that of satisfaction with only a hint of pain in her now cold, empty eyes.

Everything else after that was very dark and violent, it showed page after page after page of humans dying at her hands. Some for their blood and other's for no apparent reason.

Oh god what happened? Jasper thought weakly as he looked at the drawings.

After a moment he set the sketch book aside and left the house in the direction of the forest. Emmett looked at Jasper's retreating form and his shoulders dropped slightly with his sigh.

I didn't think he'd react so strongly, I just wanted to see what he thought. Emmett thought guiltily to himself.

I looked at him silently for a while trying to find the words that were necessary for him to hear.

"Don't dwell too long on it Emmett. I believe he needed to see those drawings to help him cope with his past. Although it will be painful for him at first, but I believe that in time he will heal." I told him truthfully hoping that it would ease his guilt.

"It doesn't feel that way now." He muttered glumly from where he now sat again on the couch.

"Give him time Emmett, it will help him better understand why she changed so much. And I think it might bring him some comfort to know that she didn't change willingly."

"Somehow, that kind of makes sense." He replied after he thought my words over. "When did you get so wise Edward?"

"I'm a mind reader remember?" I said with a smile, "but I'll admit it; it all sounded better and made more sense in my head." He looked at me with a serious expression before he bent over from the force of the booming laughter that escaped him; I chuckled at his enthusiasm and began laughing harder when I saw that the windows were shaking with the vibrations of his laughter.

"Good one Edward," he said after he'd calmed down a bit. "And here I thought you had no sense of humor." He finished with a chuckle and a wink in my direction before he stood and went to the game room. You know, you sometimes sound so much like Carlisle that it's creepy.

I rolled my eyes and looked around the room, looking at the white walls and at the expensive furniture. My eyes finally settled on the coffee table before me and on the sketch book at lay open on it.

I looked at it for an immeasurable amount of time before I finally had the courage to take it and change it to the first page.

I had prepared myself for the worst; a dark, violent or even gruesome picture but what I actually saw surprised me.

The picture did not portray someone's untimely demise, but it instead showed two young children of approximately four years of age playing with a small ball while they sat on the floor of a large living room, being watched by four attentive and joyful adults. They were wearing fine clothes that were perhaps common during the early nineteen hundreds.

The next picture showed the two children, now much older, sitting at a table of two- playing chess. A look of contemplation and pure determination on both their faces. The same four adults looked amused and seemed to be laughing amongst themselves at the children's expense.

One of the drawings that followed showed the young boy bent over a table near a dark piano, furiously writing something down on paper; while the young girl sat on the bench of the piano, holding her hands steadily over the ivory keys.

The next showed the boy sitting on the piano bench, pressing down on a several keys; while the girl played something on a dark violin; they looked slightly nervous and their stance was somewhat awkward- unnatural.

The following drawing was the same except that the four adults were now present, watching the two children with enraptured eyes. The two now looked confident, like they had done the same thing hundreds of times.

From the following pictures only three really caught my eye: they showed the girl packing, tears streaming down her face; another showed her looking out a window of a classroom with sadness, while the girls around her were laughing and enjoying their time; and the next showed a young woman, walking down the street with her arm linked to a young man who had another young woman holding his arm. He seemed to focus his sole attention on the first young woman, who looked similar to the little girl from before. They were dressed in thick winter coats, walking over the frozen sidewalk, laughing and enjoying their time.

"The girl seems familiar." I almost jumped when I heard Carlisle's voice next to me.

"How so?" I asked as he sat down next to me.

"I think she worked at the hospital where I found you."

"Do you know her name?"

"No, I don't think I ever heard it and if I did I must have forgotten it, but if I remember correctly she was the mayors' daughter. Her family, and of course society, frowned upon the fact she worked at the hospital. I think the main reason her father didn't approve of it was because he was afraid of her falling ill and losing her to the sickness, he didn't really seem too concerned about her social reputation."

"Did you know him?"

"Not very well. I had a chance to meet him when he attended one of the hospital charities and when he visited one of ex-colleges' at the hospital."

"Ex-college?"

"Yes, he was the Chief of Police in Chicago before he ran for Mayor in nineteen fifteen and won the office."

"Oh."

"I remember watching how she treated the patients, most nurses didn't treat them like that, and she was only a volunteer."

"Was it that bad?"

"On the contrary," he chuckled, "she was very kind and patient with them." I changed the page as he said this and realized that the place was familiar to me.

It showed a crowd of people having a good time at some sort of party, some of them had clear faces others looked blurry. The Mayor's daughter was holding her hand out, inclining her head with a gracious smile as a young man placed a kiss on it, a delicate ring on her finger. Another young man stood behind her, a somewhat possessive and jealous look in his eyes.

"May I?" I nodded as I passed him the sketchbook, watching his extremely calm face intently because he'd hidden his thoughts from me.

"What is it Carlisle?"

"Well," he sighed and paused as if he were deciding something, "I'm fairly certain that these two people here are your parents," he said pointing to two people I hadn't noticed before, "and that this is you," he said pointing to the young man kissing the girl's hand.

"How can that be?"

"Human memories fade Edward, you know that."

"Yes I know that, but this seems very familiar." He looked at me quizzically so I explained. "You see, after school we were waiting for Emmett to finish working on a project when we heard someone playing a melody on a piano. It was Marie, and when the melody changed I had a sort of flashback to my human life and it resembled this."

"Well that is certainly peculiar."

"I know," I said with a sigh as he turned the page. It showed my father in a hospital, his face laced with beads of sweat. My mother held his hand, while I held on to her free one. The Mayor's daughter stood mournfully in the background, almost blending in with the shadows and looking like she had just materialized from them.

The drawing after that showed us at a funeral. My mother was being embraced tightly by the mayor's daughter, as a middle aged woman held her hand; she looked so lost and broken that it made me yearn to comfort her. The human me stood a few feet away with a middle aged man, he was clasping my shoulder, trying to comfort me I suppose. I looked pale, my face was emotionless, and my eyes were hollow with a glazed quality to them.

The next drawing showed me in a hospital bed, my mother stood beside me dressed in patient clothes, her skin looked clammy. The Mayor's daughter stood beside her, pulling her from my bedside towards the hospital bed beside my own. I could clearly see that she was wearing something similar to a nurses' uniform; her expression showing deep disapproval and concern.

Another showed her standing next to me, putting a cloth to my forehead. She was biting her lip, tears forming in her eyes, her childlike human face laced with worry.

I sighed in frustration. Why couldn't I remember this girl clearly? Why couldn't I remember if she played a bigger part in my human life? Has she been a true friend or foe?

Questions floated in my mind, and I grew annoyed as the more I thought about it, the more questions appeared.

Carlisle looked at my face and I could see the understanding in his eyes. Don't fret Edward; some things are better left a mystery. As I thought about it, I realized he was right, the explanations that I would get -if there was a way that I could- might not be what I was expecting, and might not be to my liking.

Carlisle turned the page again and I looked at one more drawing before my question of 'what became of her?' was answered.

The girl held her head high as a rather plain male vampire made his way towards her; a female body lay at her feet and a male body lay behind the vampire. I knew the Mayor's daughter would soon meet the same end they had and I could almost see the excitement of the vampire in his eyes at the prospect of feeding on a courageous human. I was disgusted with how well I could imagine what thoughts had crossed his mind in those moments.

The poor child, Carlisle thought sadly looking at the drawing one last time before turning the page as I left the room and went up to my own.

I paced back and forth the length of my bedroom for what seemed like hours, looking at the hard wood floor before I finally made up my mind and looked up; one fifty-two A.M. the stereo read.

Good, I have time. I thought to myself as I left the house and ran straight back towards Forks.

I followed her scent throughout town and stopped at the outskirts when her scent became stronger. The house was a decent size and elegant, with flowers and trees lining the front.

I neared the house slowly, looking around before climbing a tree near one of the windows. The window was open so I climbed in quietly and glanced around at the room. I couldn't tell from the way it was decorated if the room belonged to a teenage girl until I saw her.

She was sound asleep, her slow and steady heart beat told me as much, but that wasn't what truly drew my attention. What I had begun to think of as impossible now seemed to be a reality, but why could I only hear her when she was asleep and not awake?

I walked towards her bedside and looked down at her, in that moment I really heard what she did and I froze in surprise.

"Please, leave me alone." She whispered out, clutching the sheets around her.

"No Marie, someone has to show my story," a calm soft voice whispered.

"It's not even yours!" She yelled at the voice. It was silent for a moment before a beautiful cold malicious laughter entered her dreams.

"I see that you've become adept at discovering me Marie," the voice was rich and sultry, like that of a vampire.

"I've had to; you've given me these strange and painful visions for years. Why did you choose me?"

"We've been over this before girl and it is none of your business, you will continue to do as I say or there will be consequences; like the last time." Marie's body trembled slightly in fear.

"Please not my sister; she's all I have left."

"You'd still have your parents if you had only done as I told you."

"How could I! You haunt my dreams with those horrible images! I did as you told me in the beginning because they were not frightening at first, but then they changed! I can hardly sleep!" She whispered out fiercely, curling up into the fetal position.

"Too bad, do as I say or you will suffer." The woman laughed coldly again, and her laughter slowly faded in her dreams; Marie whimpered softly, her heart rate picking up and I quickly climbed out the window and onto the tree outside.

She woke up with a gasp, clutching her chest before quickly darting out of the room. I heard a door close softly inside the house and the muffled cries that followed short after. I stared at the empty space where she had sat only moments ago and thought over what I had just heard.

Who was the owner of the voice I had heard in her dreams? And why was she haunting Marie's dreams? What exactly did she want with the poor girl? Had she really had a hand in the death of her parents? I climbed down the tree and ran; I wasn't exactly surprise when I ended up at the meadow. I took in the scent of the flowers as I laid down, thinking more on the matter. In the end I decided that I would not tell my family what had happen, at least not for the moment; they would have too many questions, questions that at the moment I held no desire to answer and could not answer.

For the next several days I went to her home and watched her sleep, but she didn't have a dream again, and so I stopped watching her after two weeks; but I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

How long has she suffered?

Published: June 8th, 2010

AN: So what did you guys think?

Oh, and you can see how I imagined Bella's house would look like on my website.

And again, my sincere apologies for taking so long. Hopefully I'll be able to publish then next chapter sooner.

~Medea :)

EDIT: P.S. The last part of the chapter (when Edward goes to Bella's house) Bella is supposed to be dreaming, but in reality she is just acting to throw him off his suspisions of her and to satisfy his curiosity. ;)

Please Review! :D