Quote of the Chapter: Love is much like a wild rose, beautiful and calm, but willing to draw blood in its defense. ~Mark Overby

Chapter 5

I sit by myself on the chair beside the window that took up my entire right wall. Alice did a good job picking out things for my room. The dark blue curtains that surrounded my four poster bed, the mahogany dresser and floor, the purple couch, the white rug, and crystal chandelier, all matched my personality, so she says.

I light up a cigarette, leaning it against the small hole in the window I'd cut out. I pull my red checkered blanket up and over my shoulders, curling my legs and forming into a ball. My iPod blasted in my sensitive ears, pounding into my eardrums and beating into my brain. I take a long drag of my cigarette, instantly feeling my body relax. I watch droplets of water run down the side of my window. It's been raining here for a month straight. It's May, and in Texas, I would be getting out of school and feeling the spring heat on my face.

It's been one hundred and forty-two days. I didn't want to go back, not the way I was now. I didn't trust myself, being a new vampire and being completely unpredictable. So, here I am in dreary old Forks, with no word from my family...my sister. "God, I hope she's okay," I murmur.

I don't have anything against the Cullen's. They try their hardest to make everything be okay for me. I appreciate it, but it won't be the same. I stay around Alice mostly; she's the one who has been the most supportive, the one who has stayed with me the most and takes care of me. Speaking of...

"Come in," I say before the tap on my door comes. Alice smiles at me and sits on my bed. She frowns as I take another drag of my cigarette, blowing the smoke in her direction. "What," I ask, my eyebrow raised.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that," she says. "It's nasty and bad for you."

I give her a shrug, putting out the end on the edge of the ash-crusted window. I look at her with a smile as I push it out the window, listening to the thud as it hits the ground. "Happy now?" She says nothing, her eyes slowly glazing over. "Alice?"

A large crash echoes through the forest, making the house tremble violently. I'm on my feet instantly, yanking out my ear buds, "What the hell!" Alice is slowly recovering from her vision, a large grin crossing her face. "Alice, what the hell is going on?"

"It's for you," she sing-songs.

I sigh and stand up. "You're making me go alone?" She gives a curt nod before skipping out of the room. How I wish I was Edward so I could see the things going on in her mind. I slip on a jacket while heading downstairs. I cross to the kitchen and jump out of the window, silently hitting the ground, running through the familiar trees.

I break into the clearing, stating straight into a sci-fi movie. A large, brightly colored jet-typed space craft was half buried in the ground, blackish-green smoke erupting from the engine. It reaches my throat and I cough. "Hello," I call.

"Who's there," a male voice asks.

My eyebrows furrow, "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"Um…maybe? Are you a Heartless?"

"What the hell is a Heartless," I call.

"Never mind!" Two toned and tanned arms pop up from the cockpit, pulling up a body. From behind the smoke came a boy around my age with deep, crystal blue eyes, sun-kissed skin, and chocolate hair. His lips were pulled back into a wide grin, revealing perfect, pearly white teeth. He jumps onto the ground onto rather…large feet. My eyes were trained on him as he walked towards me.

Am I drooling? Because that would be gross.

"Hi," he says, holding out a hand. "I'm Sora."

I take his firm hand and shake it with a smile. "I'm Autumn." I look around his shoulder to the crumpled metal. "Nice landing."

He laughs, looking back at the machinery. "Yeah, I blame Donald. You try to convince someone you know how to drive and they have you crash in the middle of nowhere." He looks back at me, then shakes his head, realizing what he said. "I'm sorry. I didn't really mean the middle of nowhere."

I shake my head, biting my lip and smiling. "Don't worry. You kinda are in the middle of nowhere. Welcome to Forks. The rainiest place on the planet earth."

"Earth…" It sounds more like a question, but I shrug it off. After all, he has just had a nasty crash. "Oh crap! Donald!" He runs back into the wreckage, climbing up to the cockpit and reaching down into it. He pulls up a little white duck, one that I've known my entire childhood.

"Donald Duck," I exclaim, slapping a hand over my mouth. Oh my God, oh my God, don't scream. I take a few deep breaths, slowly walking over to the icon. "I grew up with you," I say pointing at him. "Your like…a Disney idol!"

He gives me a funny look, like I just grew two heads. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, c'mon," I say, "The Wise Little Hen, The Dognapper, The Band Concert?"

He just shakes his head, walking past me. "I have no idea." He looks up and around at the clearing, the line of trees a few yards away. "Where are we?"

"A town called Forks," Sora says, heaving up another body.

"Goofy!"

The dog smiles at me, giving me a wave. "Ah-hyuck! How'd you know my name?"

"Oh my God! You're just as famous as Donald!"

"Her name's Autumn," Sora says from behind him. "And I think she might be a little crazy."

Donald crosses back to the ship, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "Sora! How are we supposed to go anywhere with the Gummi Ship destroyed?"

"It was your fault! You slammed on the brake."

The two turn at each other, bickering and yelling at each other, reminding me of Alex and Elliot. I smile at the memory, my brother and sister fighting over the stupidest things. A chord strikes my heart, my smile being replaced with a tight line. "Hey," I yell over them. They turn their attention to me; their mouths still open the tiniest bit. "I have someone who might be able to help you. They're good with engines and…weird stuff."

They look back at each other, crossing their arms and walking back towards me. "Will you take us to them," Sora asks.

I nod, turning on my heel. "Yep. My house is about a mile away from here. If you think you can walk that far."

"We walk all day anyway," Sora says, following behind me. "It won't hurt us." After a few minutes of trekking through the forest in silence, Sora has the courage to speak up. "We aren't from around here. What is this place?"

I shrug. "Depends on what you mean. The town? The state? The country?"

"This world."

I stop dead in my tracks, turning over my shoulder to look at him. "What?"

His eyes sparkle in the small stream of sunlight breaking through the rain, the foliage. "The world. What is it like here?" I think for a second, of what kind of possible brain injuries he might have and if it was okay for him to be walking. "Don't you know there are other worlds?" Again I stand in silence, slowly shaking my head. "Do you ever look at the stars," he asks, walking ahead of me.

"All the time," I whisper, slowly following behind him.

"They're all different worlds. Different places, different cultures, different customs. I've been to so many of them. And each person on every world has a story." He gazes back as me. "How many people live here?"

"In this town, about three thousand. In the world…seven billion."

He pulls back his lips into a smile, revealing his teeth again. "That means seven billion different stories."

I chew on my lip before jogging up to walk beside him. "You've had a lot of time to think about this, haven't you?"

"Two years," he whispers. "When I was fourteen, my world was swallowed by darkness and…it was hard at first but when you're fighting Heartless and saving people from demise…you have a lot of time to think."

"I've had a lot of time to think too," I respond quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't grow up in Forks. I was kidnapped not too long ago and today marks my one hundred and forty-second day here."

"Wow," he whispers. "But…your kidnapper-"

"Is dead," I say quickly.

"Why don't you go home?"

I bite my lip, shaking my head slightly. "I…it's complicated. And I-" I'm cut off sharply by a familiar, sweet scent. Blood. I can feel my eyes glazing over, turning red. I stop and instinctively smell the air, the raw smell of a human filling my nose.

"What's the matter," Sora whispers urgently.

"Shh…" I begin running towards the smell, the back of my throat stinging, my mouth drying up. I skid to a halt, looking down at the still body. It was dressed in a black hooded cloak, laying face down in the grass. I reach down to pull back the hood, when I'm stopped by a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't!" Sora's fingers dig into my skin, looking at me with a stern gaze. "It's the Organization. You don't want to be associated with them. They're the enemy."

Enemy… The word dances in my ears, playing over and over in my brain. I let go of the soft material, standing up straight and turning to face Sora. I push past him and break out into a jog. "C'mon," I call. "We're almost there."

We run the last fourth mile to the Cullen's house, slowing as the house comes into view. "Here it is," I say with a smile, "my humble abode." I look back to see Sora's eyes wide and lit up with wonder, a 'wow' dancing on his lips. "Alice," I call.

My best friend is by my side before I can blink, grinning at me, her eyes flashing in delight. "And who are your guests," she asks, more to be polite than actual wondering.

"This is Sora," I say gesturing to the man beside me, "Donald and Goofy. Do you think you could persuade Edward and Emmet to fix their ship?"

She smiles, giving me a knowing look. "Of course! But it may take a while."

I look back at Sora, an eyebrow arched. "Would you like to spend the night?" The three share a glance before nodding, smiles on their faces. "Great," I exclaim, grabbing Sora's hand and leading him into the house. The four of us rush up the stairs to my room and I shut the door behind us.

I curl up in my chair, looking at Sora as I light up a cigarette. "Do you mind?" He shakes his head, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"Tell me…about your kidnapping."

I close my eyes, taking a long drag. "I don't remember much. He just…injected me with something that knocked me unconscious and I woke up here in Forks a few days later. Alice and her family found me and took care of me. She says that my sister was taken too but doesn't know where she is." I sigh, opening my eyes to look at him. I pull a picture out of my back pocket and hold it out to him. "We're twins," I say as he takes it. "I'm on the right."

"You've changed," he whispers.

"Against my will," I say, meeting his eyes. "She's one of the reasons I won't go home. I have to find her. I have to know that she's alive and okay."

He hands the picture back, chewing on the inside of his lip. He glances around the floor, the walls before he blurts out, "Come with us!" I look at him, my eyes wide and questioning. "C'mon, I know you don't want to stay here and you can look for your sister." He crossed to me, crouching at the foot of my chair and grabbing my hand, the faint scent of honeysuckle and peaches wafting to my nose. "Just think about it."

I chew on my lip, going over scenarios in my head. "Sora…"

He gazes up into my eyes, a smile creeping onto his face. "C'mon."

"Okay." The word is just barely audible, but he's elated. He jumps up with a childish demeanor holding out a hand.

"We're gonna have fun," he laughs, pulling me to my feet. "But we have a lot of work to do."

I sigh, forcing a smile.

Fun didn't matter.

Alex did.