So this is the last chapter…of this story, anyway. I'm planning sequels. More on that later, at the bottom of the chapter.
Hidden Traces and lil artist, thank you for your reviews, and your participation in my little informal quiz-thing. I suppose the 'plants that sing to you' part was a bit too obscure. Here are the answers.
A city made of green glass. – The Wizard of Oz, specifically the Emerald City
A place where objects have souls, and toys come to life when you're not looking. – Toy Story
A vast kingdom of ash and fire, populated by hideous goblins and ghosts who ride winged beasts. – Lord of the Rings, specifically Mordor
A wild forest, with six-legged horses and orange dragon lizards, and plants that sing to you – James Cameron's Avatar
Scary Sparkles
"Come on, Uncle Thomas." Maureen said. "I just want to go exploring."
Thomas Stanley eyed his niece. "What's wrong with the woods behind the house?"
You think that's any less wild? If you knew how far into the woods I go back there, you'd flip a shit. Maureen thought.
"I've been all over there." Maureen said. "I want to go someplace else. And the trails east of here are totally safe, you know that."
"Why don't you go with Jessica?" Uncle Thomas said. "Or we could have a family outing one weekend, and all four of us could go."
"It's November." Maureen said. "Aunt Joan won't want to go anywhere near the woods until April, at least. Same with Jess. I just want to get in some good solid outdoor time before the snow starts to fall in giant blankets, and I can't go outside anymore."
Thomas took his glasses off, and put them on the desk.
He turned back to Maureen. "My bike needs to come back in the exact same condition it is when you leave here. You also need to come back before dark. If you break curfew, I'm grounding you until Thanksgiving…of next year."
Maureen nodded. "Yes, Uncle Thomas. I promise I'll be careful."
Maureen's reason for wanting to visit the hiking trails was only partially a lie. She did want to explore one last time before fall was finally over, to see if there were any fiber plants still alive. Of course, that would require going quite a ways off the aforementioned trails. But Maureen had her compass, and another hand-drawn map. It wouldn't be any different from the forest behind the Stanley house.
Maureen rode to the hiking trails. By bike, it took about a half hour. She couldn't wait until she had her driver's license, and could travel more than twenty mph. She chained her Uncle's bike at the Ranger's station near the start of the trails, then picked a path at random. After ten minutes, she tied a scrap of red cotton to a tree to mark her place, and went off-trail.
In this heavily forested area, plants were thick on the ground. Maureen found large patches of stinging nettles, spread out across wide distances. She found herself walking quicker than usual, racing to find the next patch, to cut the stalks and toss them in her foraging pack. As if gathering as many as possible would make up for the long winter, when there was nothing to forage for. Maureen walked and walked, until one compartment of her pack was literally full to bursting. She leaned against a tree, and dropped her pack to the ground. She stretched, rolling her shoulders.
"Break time." She announced to no one. She slumped down against the tree, and pulled a bottle of water and an apple out of the pack's front pocket. The water in the bottle had frost on the surface. Maureen grimaced—it was definitely getting too cold.
This is what I get for moving to Washington. She shrugged. Like everything else, it didn't have to be a problem. Winter was only a pain if Maureen thought it was a pain.
It will be pretty. She thought to herself, trying to see the positive in a rural winter wonderland.
A soft rumbling sound shook Maureen from her thoughts. Capping the water bottle, she stood up, and looked around the tree. She couldn't see anything—the forest was too dense. But the rumbling was growing louder. It sounded like drums, or—
Hoofbeats. Maureen thought. Deer. Lots of deer, probably. With sharp hooves and pointy antlers. Shit.
Maureen stepped backwards until her feet were balanced on the roots of the tree. She pressed herself against the trunk, and tried to think slim thoughts.
They'll run around the tree, they'll run around the tree. She thought, keeping herself calm. Deer don't run into trees. They will not hit me.
The rumbling grew louder, until it was nearly on top of her. A brown shape whizzed past Maureen. Then another, and another, and another—
That's ten, that's at least ten. Maureen thought. That's a big fucking herd, even—
The side of the tree exploded. Woodchips flew everywhere, and something slammed into Maureen's arm. She was on the ground—and her shoulder was on fire. Maureen tried to scream, but the wind had been knocked out of her. Hands were on her back, grabbing her around the waist. She was flipped over.
"Maureen!" Alice Cullen's face was right above hers. "Maureen, are you okay?"
Maureen took a ragged breath. "My shoulder." She gasped out. "Fuck, my shoulder hurts! Owowow-" Maureen ran out of air, and went back to spluttering.
"It's dislocated." This was a voice Maureen had never heard before. A pale woman with caramel colored hair moved into Maureen's line of vision.
"Can you fix that?" Alice asked.
The woman bit her lip. "I've done it before, but the last time was almost fifteen years ago. Alice, what can you…?"
Alice's eyes unfocused for a moment, then fixed on Maureen again. "You can do it, Esme." She said. "Now."
The caramel-haired woman—Esme—nodded. "Hold her down."
Alice put one hand on Maureen's good shoulder, the other on her waist. In between coughs, Maureen realized that she was being more or less pushed into the ground. She tried to wriggle—she could barely move.
"Hold still, Maureen." Esme took hold of Maureen's aching, twisted arm, and pulled—
When she was ten, Maureen had fallen down a flight of stairs, and landed on her knee. It had swelled up to the size of a grapefruit, and had been black and blue for a month. This hurt worse.
"EAARGGHH!" Maureen howled. She sucked air into her lungs. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK!"
Esme released Maureen's arm. "Edward did have a point about her language." She said.
Alice moved her hands, lifting Maureen into a sitting position. "We're glad you're okay." She said.
"Ahhh, um, I think I'm not quite okay." Maureen said, feeling slightly hysterical. "But I'm alive."
"That counts as okay in my book." Esme held out her hand. Maureen lifted her good arm, and took the woman's hand in hers. The fingers were ice cold.
Surprise surprise. Maureen thought.
"I'm Esme Cullen." Esme said. "Carlisle's wife. It's good to meet you. I'm sorry about the circumstances, though."
"What the hell happened?" Maureen asked. Her right shoulder still ached fiercely, but the horrific pain had gone away. Plus, she could move it a little.
"Something less horrible than I thought, even though we were late." Alice said grimly.
"Mind explaining that a little better, Miss Precognitive?" Maureen snapped.
"Is she always like this?" Esme asked Alice.
"I think the circumstances are making her crabbier, but yes."
"Shit, fine, I'm sorry for my attitude." Maureen said. "Please, what the hell just happened? Did I get trampled by a deer?"
"You got trampled by Jasper, Maureen." Alice said. "He and Edward were hunting; they just chased a herd of deer right through here. Edward was probably focusing solely on the herd. And Jasper was concentrating so hard on one of them, he ran right through the side of the tree—right into you."
Maureen looked up at the tree in front of her—the one she'd been hiding behind. A huge, piece of the trunk was missing. It looked like someone had gouged a hole along the side of it, five or six feet tall.
"The boys haven't eaten in over a week." Esme said. "And Alice had a vision—"
"I saw them hunting." Alice said. "I saw them chasing a herd of deer, and you were standing out in the open, and Jasper just plowed straight into you. If you were a normal person he probably would have smelled you. But you're not, and he was too focused on his prey. I saw him in the vision, Maureen. He ran right into you, and fed from you."
Maureen felt she should probably be freaking out more than she currently was.
"…I thought my blood wasn't appetizing." Maureen said.
"There are very few things that Jasper won't eat when he's hungry and set on a kill." Alice said. Her voice was level, but Maureen could hear the soft sadness in her voice. "And if he'd hit you dead on, there would have been a lot of broken bones…and blood. Fresh blood outside the body is hard to resist."
"But I wasn't out in the open." Maureen said. "I heard the deer coming, and hid behind the tree. You didn't see that?"
"I don't see you very well in my visions, Maureen." Alice said. "You're not human. But I can see you when you affect my family, or if my family affects you. I couldn't see that you were going to hide. All I knew was that if you were in the midst of the deer, you were going to die."
"I was the only one in the house, so we both ran here as quickly as we could." Esme explained. "You're extremely lucky, as far as I can tell. Hitting the tree first slowed Jasper down, and he only struck the edge of your shoulder. You were lucky to get up alive, let alone with just a dislocation."
Maureen shook her head. This was all too much to take in. And, she suspected when she was more clearheaded, she'd see exactly how stupid it was, too.
"Help me up, please." Maureen said. Alice grabbed her around the waist, and lifted her up until she was standing.
Maureen's legs shook a little, but she could stand on her own.
"Where's Jasper now?" She said. "Or Edward?"
"We let them keep running." Alice said. "Best if they finish hunting first."
"Okay." Maureen said. She looked around.
"Um…I kind of don't want to tell my family that I dislocated my shoulder while walking off trail. And I assume you don't want me to tell anyone either."
Esme laughed; it was a light, pleasant sound. "That would be preferable, yes."
Maureen tried moving her right shoulder a little more. "It aches like hell." She said. "I think ice is in order. And there's no way in hell I'm biking back."
"We can drive you home." Esme said. She looked at Alice. "I'll go get Emmett's jeep, and meet you and Maureen at the empty Ranger's station. Help her walk down."
Alice nodded. Esme turned, and took off in a blur of movement that shook the underbrush.
"You guys run fast." Maureen said dumbly. She cursed her brain. Understatement of the century.
Alice nodded. She picked up Maureen's foraging pack off the ground. "Come on." She said. "Put your good arm around my shoulder. I'll help you back."
Maureen and Alice said very little as they picked their way slowly through the forest. Occasionally, Maureen would ask something, and Alice would respond.
"How long will it take them to finish hunting?" Maureen asked.
"They're already done." Alice said. "But Jasper is…upset. Edward's read my mind, and told Jasper what he almost did. I think they might take a while to come back to us."
"Jasper shouldn't be that messed up." Maureen said. "It was an accident."
Alice frowned. "When almost all of one's 'accidents' end in death, they tend to weigh heavier on the soul."
"Oh, so you do believe vampires have souls." Maureen said. "Edward and Rosalie seem to think otherwise."
"I'm not sure if I have a soul." Alice said. "But I'm capable of love. I love Jasper, and Edward and Carlisle and Esme, and Rosalie and Emmett. I think that's what counts."
"That's a better theory than 'I'm a monster, watch me whine'." Maureen said. "Though I don't think your definition of love is the same as mine."
Alice gave Maureen a puzzled look. "What's your definition of love?"
"I'm not sure yet." Maureen said.
Once they reached the trail, it was an easy walk downhill. Esme was already in the parking lot, with the jeep. And so was Rosalie.
"She must have been home when Esme got there." Alice said.
As they reached the end of the trail, Maureen saw that Edward and Jasper were alsoin the lot, standing a ways away. The former looked angry, and the latter looked absolutely miserable. Maureen made a face—both had clearly attempted to clean up, but they still had dried blood around their mouths, and on their fingers.
Like you don't make a mess eating buffalo wings. Shut up, girl. Maureen told herself. She took her arm off Alice's shoulder.
"She's fine." Alice said, seeing Rosalie open her mouth. "Her shoulder is sore, but she's hardly even banged up."
"This shouldn't have happened." Edward said darkly. "I'm not blaming you, Alice, not at all. You saved her. But this could have been prevented."
"So what, you're blaming Jasper?" Rosalie said.
"There's no single blame in this." Edward said. "Though I do take full responsibility for not sensing Maureen's mind—"
"Oh, shut up Edward!" Maureen said. "You're so self-important and self-despising, I'm surprised you don't flip inside-out from the contradiction."
She turned to Jasper.
"Will you apologize to me?" Maureen asked.
Jasper looked surprised—as if it hadn't occurred to him that he could do that.
"I'm sorry." He said. "I am so sorry I didn't smell you there. I'm sorry I hurt you, and nearly killed you."
"And I'm sorry too." Maureen said. "I promise I won't go wandering around any place you might be hunting, ever again. Or next time, I'll just climb the damn tree."
Alice laughed softly. Jasper managed a small smile.
"Problem solved." Maureen said. "Apologies accepted. No harm done."
"No harm done?" Edward snapped. His face was tense with anger and pain. "You were nearly killed, Maureen. Don't you understand that?"
"I understand it damn well." Maureen said. "I am not a moron. I know full well how close I was to death. But it was a fucking accident, and it wasn't that bad in the end—"
"It'll be worse, next time." Edward said. "If we let there be a next time."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Maureen said.
"You can't be close to us." Edward said. "You can't come near us. We'll only hurt you. And I refuse to let this family put itself into a position where we could spill innocent blood."
"Oh, so I'm an innocentnow, instead of a bitch?" Maureen scoffed. "You moron, this incident had nothing to do with whether or not I know you guys!"
"If he hadn't known your scent so well before, Jasper might have noticed you." Edward said. "No, we really can't afford—"
"Someone needs to drive her home." Alice interrupted. "We promised to do that."
Edward shot Alice a sharp look, which she met with her wide-eyed gaze. The two seemed to be engaged in a short staring war. Silence filled the air.
"Esme, will you help Rosalie and I take Maureen home?" Edward said after a time. "I think Jasper and Alice should go back to the house now."
Esme looked around at her four children, then nodded. Alice stepped away from Maureen, and walked over to Jasper. She took his hand, and led him off, slowly, into the woods. Maureen walked over to the bicycle rack, and unlocked her bike. Edward came up behind her, and lifted the bike over his shoulder. He put it in the trunk of the jeep, then did the same for Maureen's bag.
Esme got in the driver's seat, Edward beside her. Rosalie sat behind Esme, and helped Maureen climb into the fourth seat. Esme started the car, and the jeep sped onto the main road. There was silence for a good two minutes.
"Edward—" Maureen began.
He cut her off, without turning his head. "Alice can find no guarantee that something like this won't happen to you again, unless we keep our guard up around you."
"That's what you say." Maureen said. "Mr. Paranoid, Mr. Stick-up-the-ass. What do you know?"
"If Edward has seen no alternatives in Alice's mind—if Alice sees no alternatives, and makes no protest," Esme said. "Then our course is set. We're a family, and we need to protect each other. Edward's reaction is correct."
Maureen turned her head. "Rosalie?"
Rosalie's mouth and chin were set in that stubborn look of hers. But her eyes looked defeated.
"If we hurt you." She said. "It's not just you who gets hurt. It puts us all in danger. We can't risk that. You can't look for us outside of school, you can't come near us. We can't be friends anymore."
Maureen was flabbergasted.
"So that's it, then?" Maureen said. "What, was getting to know me some sort of experiment? A test that you all failed?"
Maureen squeezed her eyes shut. "Dear lord. I'm like Jessica. I'm just one of the useless people than dance around you. And even if I'm not, that's the only way you lot can ever treat people."
"You're not useless." Esme said, turning down the first residential street in Maureen's neighborhood.
"Thanks for the kind words, Ma'am, but I hardly know you." Maureen said. "I don't think I know any of you. There's nothing to know."
Esme screeched the car to a halt, outside Maureen's house.
"That was fast." Maureen remarked. "I don't even want to know how many miles over the speed limit you were going. Or how you knew where I lived without asking me, like a polite person would."
Edward climbed out of the car without a word. He lifted Maureen's bike and foraging pack out of the jeep's trunk, and set them on the grass next to the Stanley mailbox. Maureen climbed out of the car, and slammed the door with her left arm. Edward brushed past her, and got back into the passenger seat.
Maureen looked up at the sound of the backseat window rolling down.
"Maureen." Rosalie said. Her face was a mixture of emotions, and difficult to read. "Spinner—"
"Don't call me that." Maureen's voice was flat. "That was what my friends called me, my dearest closest ones. I haven't got any of those here. I doubt I ever will…certainly not you lot. You can be kind, you can be funny, you can even be good. But you're all hollow and twisted up; in awful ways I don't wish to understand. You're all poorly manufactured. And the things you do are absolute, contrived bullshit."
"But you know what?" Maureen said, with complete honesty. "It's fine. I don't need you any more than you need me. None of you are so important to my existence that I need to waste my time going through pointless, drawn-out drama just to hang on to you. Nothing should ever be than important."
Maureen slung her foraging pack over her good shoulder, and hauled her bike towards the garage, grasping the crux of the handle in her left hand.
She heard the jeep make a three-point turn, and speed away. Maureen didn't look back.
~Fin
Alright, that's the end of this story! Thanks so much for everyone who came along for the ride, and let me know they were along for the ride, by reviewing. Especially repeat reviewers. Love you guys, thanks a bunch!
So, concerning sequels…the story you've just finished reading took place about a year and a half before Bella shows up. It was essentially a prequel. Now I want to post Maureen's adventures during Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Well, maybe not Breaking Dawn. Ugh. We'll see.
The only issue right now is that the first story…the one that would mirror Twilight…isn't done yet. I've got a lot of pieces written, but the only chapter that's completely ready is the first chapter. So what I'm going to do is post that chapter in a new story tomorrow, so you can add it to Story Alert. Then I'll write up the following chapters, which sadly will take more than one day. So updates will be fewer and far between. But the editing process is crucial to the story not sucking.
Feel free to leave a last review, to tell me what you thought of the whole thing, and/or to assure me that you're interested in reading the sequel! :D