okay. here's the Twilight-ish like part i warned you about. ch. 4, however, is way different. i'm talking 10083094729374% different.

random number. point still remains, it's different.

now, i'll stop rambling after i say, please R&R. :)

03. Are You Ready: Three Days Grace

I was running away; from what, I didn't know. Haunting me, stalking me was a mystery unknown. Nothing to protect me, alone in the world, I was left defenseless against the powerful evil.

I was in the woods by Charlie's house, and Edward was now following closely behind me. It was sprinkling, and, even in the cool rain, it was really hot in this particular area. I was sweating a lot, but that was to be expected in a hot climate.

Then, we stopped in the middle of the woods, out of nowhere. I expected him to say something funny, or make fun of me in some way, but Edward said two words that broke my heart completely.

"Goodbye, Mayze."

It was strange. Two words made my world completely different in one instant, with a snap of my fingers. Everything started spinning, and my world shattered in front of my eyes.

"No!" I yelled as I took a step closer to him in protest. "Edward, no! You can't say that to me! You promised!"

He just looked at me with blank eyes, and then a beautiful vampire with strawberry blonde hair, tan skin, and sea green eyes ran up. She had a sorta smug look on her lips, and she grabbed his arm, breaking the pieces of my heart all over again into many more pieces.

"I don't love you, Mayze," he said simply, shrugging. What hurt was, in the dream, it was sincere.

That made sense. It made sense that he would want a beautiful vampire like her, and not an ugly, simple human like me. Compared to him, I was hideous. He deserved someone like her. Beautiful and angelic, she could give him everything he would want. She could be with him in ways I couldn't. She looked good beside him. She didn't degrade his perfect, beautiful face. Instead, she outlined it.

I couldn't say anything as he wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed the side of her head softly. I just stared disbelievingly, unable to find words. I hadn't been expecting this at all, especially how he was rubbing her in my face like this. It wasn't like him.

"Bye, Mayze," he said again before disappearing with his new love in the fast, vampire way I wasn't capable of reaching.

She was.

I knew then, as I felt the ability to breathe escape me, I had been running away from life, from everything.

I had been running to save myself. Being alone was too much for me, something I literally couldn't live with anymore.

That's when I couldn't take the pain I was feeling, even though I was deep in sleep, anymore; so I woke up as fast as I possibly could. I found myself drenched in sweat, just like in my dream. It didn't help that Auggie was sleeping curled up close to me, so her body heat was heating me up too.

It just didn't help.

It was storming outside, and when the thunder clapped, I was more awake, as was Auggie. When I put one foot on the floor, though, something suddenly hit me like a baseball bat hits a baseball.

There was this . . . I got this achy feeling in my stomach. It tore me down to the core, and ripped at my heart. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was suddenly eating me inside. Everything was just so painful and groggy.

It wasn't nausea at all. I wasn't getting sick. I knew exactly what this feeling was, because I've felt in many times before.

What I was feeling was fear. Fear of what, I don't know. All I knew was . . . I was feeling fear.

For some reason, I knew something bad was going to happen today. I didn't know what, when, where, and how, but I knew for a hundred percent fact that something would.

That was the fear ache in my stomach.

I hadn't noticed it before, but Edward was sitting in the rocking chair, unmoving. His face was suddenly lit by the lightning, and what I saw scared me more than any of his other expressions ever had. It was dark, angry even, as he stared ahead of him.

He must not have noticed I was up yet, because pain flashed across his face too.

Then, when he blinked, his eyes moved over to me, and instantly, his face went completely and totally impassive, along with his eyes.

"Hi," I said quietly before brightly smiling at him. "What are you doing here? I didn't know you—"

He cut me off instantly, as if he wasn't even paying attention to me. "I need to talk to you about something."

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked outside, only for a moment, before looking back at him. "Alright. What is it?"

"There's no point in delaying it," he said simply, as if whatever it was wasn't a big deal, before looking me straight in the eyes. "Mayze, this is goodbye, forever. We're moving away now. I promise. You won't have to worry about us causing you danger any longer. It'll be like we never even existed."

My heart shattered instantly. This time, though, it was much, much worse than the dream. This was really happening. It was like déjà vu, but a million times worse—a trillion. Everything made no sense any longer, and I couldn't even believe this was real.

"W-What?" I was stuttering to talk, since nothing else seemed to make any sense to me. Nothing was coming out right, working right. "N-No! Edward, you promised!"

"I said as long as it's what's best for you," he reminded me, shaking his head. "And, Mayze, it isn't. You need a human, normal person who won't kill you or constantly put your life in danger. You deserve that much." He paused, looking me straight in the eye before going on. "And you need someone who loves you."

If my heart was still intact at all from before, it wasn't now, at all. It exploded right then, and tears started filling my eyes. I forced them not to come, but it was hard. He just couldn't see them now . . . .

My mouth was trembling. "Y-You don't l-love me?"

"No." His voice was hard and flat. It had an icy, even edge to it, and that just pained me even more.

I couldn't think clearly, at all. My head was spinning faster than ever before, leaving me incapable of doing anything at all.

Then, I heard how sincere that was. It finally clicked in my lie radar that it wasn't, at all.

I swallowed noticeably and looked him dead in the eyes. They were attempting to be blank, but I could see past the mask, just like always. "Liar."

His teeth ground together. "How can you know? Maybe you were reading me wrong all along. Did that thought ever occur to you?"

"You're lying!" I exclaimed. "Edward, I know what you're doing! You're doing this to protect me! Look, I'll die if I have to! Edward, you can't go!"

He just looked at me with the same "blank" eyes. I could see the pain, though, as he stared at me, unsure for just a moment how to protest. But, he completely regained his composure quickly and said, "Mayze, I'm sorry, for everything. You won't have to worry about me anymore. We'll all be fine. Move on, be happy, start a family. Be with a normal, human man. It's what you deserve. Someone who can love you."

I just looked at him, my eyes torn and confused. Did I not just get it out of my mouth that I saw past the lie?

Was he ignoring me now?

"Well, we have to leave soon," he said quietly as his eyes went out the window. "Goodbye, Mayze. I'm so sorry for all of this." Then, he turned to leave. He froze in the doorway, though, in just an instant. "One more thing."

I just grit my teeth to hold back the angry tears. I wasn't stupid. I knew why he was doing this, and now he's not even listening to me. He knows I know, so he's trying to avoid it.

"What?" My voice sounded as hard and cold as his had. I was getting better at lying and acting now, since I've had to do it a lot since I came here.

"Be safe," he whispered brokenly. I could tell it was a slip that he hadn't quite noticed yet, something that gave me more fuel to realize that this was just an act. "That's the last thing I want is you getting hurt."

I just stared up at him, a harsh, cold look. "If you really don't love me, then stop acting like you care and just go. It just hurts that much worse to hear the lies, Edward. I'm not stupid. I know you."

His eyes looked torn for a second, but then, like his face, they went completely blank. "I'll just get out of your life now." With that, he disappeared.

What was left of my heart, or the pieces of it at least, were screaming at me to run after him and scream at him. I wanted to plead with him not to leave. I wanted to tell him I needed him, and that if it meant dying, fine. I couldn't live my life without him, even if it had an end.

But my head was saying no. I guess only my head could see exactly how broken my heart was right now. One of them was a lie. Was everything a lie or just right now? Suddenly, as he slammed the Volvo door, I wasn't sure; I didn't really care.

I ran outside, completely ignoring the ice cold rain. I watched his Volvo pull out and speed away down the street. As far as I could tell, he hadn't even glanced at me. The rain was pouring down harder than I ever remember it raining since I've been to Forks, and it was like ice, even though it was the middle of June.

I was thankful Bella was staying at Jessica's the night before for a sleepover. It was her, Lauren, Angela, Jessica, and Ashley. I wasn't invited, though, and even if I had been, I wouldn't have gone. Angela is the only person there I can tolerate.

My hair was soaked, my body drenched, and I sank to my knees, unable to help the shaking. I was thankful, also, that Charlie's cruiser wasn't here either, meaning he was already at work.

Just when I thought my life was coming together, I come to realize that it was just starting to fall apart.

"I'll never forget you, Edward Anthony Masen-Cullen. I just can't move on. I'm sorry about that. I'll wait for you, even though you can't hear me."

But, I struggled to keep the tears that were on the verge of coming away. I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to stop if I did. And, honestly, I think I was too broken to cry, if that's even possible.