Twilight—50 Years Later
Part IV
The trees and grass were soaked with last night's rain, making a squashing sound as I stepped on it with my black rubber boots. The mud covered most of my ankles, so I was glad that my boots reached up to my knees. I walked slowly, with cat-like slyness, with acute precision of what angle my target was in. The deer had just about turned into an adult, it seemed, with sturdy legs, a puffy winter coat, and sharp senses. He heard me coming from the moment I decided to pursue him, just waiting for my attack. Little did he know, my attack would be from afar. I chose my weapon as a bow and arrow, since no one would trust me with a gun, not even just a measly BB gun. I was proficient in shooting arrows, practicing since I was a little kid. Gramps used to own a sporting goods shop back in the day. I've been known not to miss my aim when it came to deer hunting. I knew it was because my mind would be completely deprived of thoughts. They would only get in the way and hold me back, so I completely let all thoughts go and my mind would be wholly silent.
I took one more step, then positioned my bow, loading my arrow. I pulled the string back, waiting for the perfect moment. I shot, and off he went. I got the arrow close to his neck, so he wouldn't be getting too far ahead. I chased after him, the small drizzle of rain pouring on my head as I came out from under the exposed forest. He was slowing down while I was speeding up. I took another arrow, then shot. Before I let go of it, I heard a distant cry from a bear from faraway into the forest, ruining my deep concentration.
My arrow missed him by an inch, and he scurried away into the darkness.
"No!" I said. I was about to run after him, but Michael stopped me.
"Let it go, Brooke. That one's going to get away."
"But I never let them get away."
"There's a first for everything," he said, releasing my arm.
I struggled between indecision. Should I stay or should I go? Michael kept his gaze on me, warning me to stay. So I did. That is, until the impulsive side of me itched at my nerves and I began sprinting after the long-gone deer.
"Brooke!"
I was running through the forest like a maniac, my arrow ready in my hand, my bow in the other. The glove I was wearing was drenched with rain, but I didn't care. I had to catch that deer. I was an adequate runner as well, and since my first arrow had already slowed the deer, I caught up to him immediately. I was surprised I knew what direction it would take.
The animal was in my view; I placed the arrow on the bow and prepared to shoot, when suddenly, something else got to the deer before I could let the string go. I wasn't sure if it was another animal. It was fast and blurry.
What the hell was that? I thought, that being the only thought I had since I began my hunting. I ran ahead, hoping to catch what animal took a hold of my prey, when my bow and arrow fell from my hands in shock.
It was a man.
Or was it? He was devouring the little beast like he had been hungry for years. His posture seemed as if he was an actual animal, and then I saw his hair. It looked exactly like...
Edward Cullen.
He swiftly turned around to look at me as if my thoughts were spoken aloud; his eyes were black with rage and hunger and all things evil. He looked like a monster.
My breathing intensified, my heart pounding with too much force, like I was about to have a heart attack. I saw him stand up from his attack position, his mouth painted in blood. He licked it off, his eyes never leaving mine. Right then, Alice Cullen jumped in from the trees and into the area. Right after her was Jasper and Bella. They impossibly jumped from the trees. Jumped!
Jasper stepped forward, and I stepped back, immediately feeling warm and fuzzy inside. I suddenly felt tired and a little bit dizzy.
"Wait! I'm...I'm..." I could feel the heaviness of my eyelids only getting thicker with each second. Whatever was happening, I was sure it wasn't me. I have never fainted in my life, and I wasn't going to start now.
"Jasper, let her speak." Edward was the one who spoke.
The dizziness lifted, but my eyes were still on the verge of closing. "My...my name," I began, unsure where I was headed with that.
"We know your name. Brooke Newman, correct?" Jasper said. It sounded like he was punishing me.
"No, no." I drifted into sleep for a split second, then revived myself. "My name is Brooke...Newton." I said. I tried to look into their faces, but I couldn't bring myself to complete that action.
"Jasper," Bella spoke.
Abruptly, I was wide-awake. The first thing I did was look at Bella and meet her gaze. "My name is Brooklyn Annabel Newton. My grandfather is Mike Newton, from Forks, Washington."
As soon as I said his name, all four sets of eyes looked edgy, worried, and wide with outrage.
"I suppose you want answers." Jasper narrowed his eyes at me, and immediately I felt wronged. They didn't do anything to me, why would they think I would do anything to them? Did Gramps start on the wrong foot with them?
"Uhm, I didn't know I get that option. Do you grant wishes, too?" I asked, sincerely curious. I wanted to know what else they could do, or what they were, or how they get to live for a very long time without getting old.
"This isn't a game," Jasper scolded.
"Alice, why didn't you see her coming?" Bella asked.
"I did. I saw her and her family out here hunting, but they were far away enough that it wouldn't have interfered with us. It was my mistake for taking that chance. I didn't see it until it was too late."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What? See me? You can see the future? Awesome." I should've been scared. I knew I was. I guess my way of hiding the fear was to seek for something that intrigued me, focus on that, and forget how I was in potential danger. "And that sleepy thing. Are you like, a sleep fairy, or something? Did you do that?" I asked Jasper. He just turned his head the other way, ignoring me.
"But Edward, didn't you hear her?" Bella turned to him now.
"I did not, and I'm wondering about that."
"Hear me? Are you guys like the monkeys? Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil? Is there a sleep no evil monkey? Alice sees, Edward hears... Uh-oh. Are you a mind reader?" I asked him, horrified of the answer.
He smiled at that. "Yes."
"Oh, man. Then you heard every word I said that time you...?" He heard my every thought, including that time I pretended he was a mind-reader and ordered him to stay if he was.
"Yes, I did." He chuckled softly. "I didn't know what to do, whether to listen to your command or ignore it. I was afraid you figured it out."
"I'm sad that I didn't. I would've stopped trying to make a fool of myself."
"You heard her before?" Bella questioned him sternly, cutting me off from saying anymore. Edward nodded. "Can you hear her now?"
Crap. He was going to listen to my thoughts. What do I think about? This was weird, never had I needed something safe to think about, for fear others would listen in. What if I thought about something private, like a secret not meant to be told to anyone? Or somebody else's secret? What do I do?
"Yes, I can." He smiled.
Oops. What did I say? What did he hear?
"Then why couldn't you hear her a few minutes ago? You should've been able to sense she was near, and turn away to warn us, right?"
"I'm not sure."
I raised my hand. "Oh. I might be able to explain."
Bella glared at me, angry that I interrupted their personal conversation. I let my hand down slowly. Gosh, if it were so personal, she would've made her voice softer, or whisper in his ear or something. It wasn't that hard. Could she possibly be that mean?
"Brooke," Edward cautioned.
"Oops. Sorry." I forgot about that. I had to watch what I thought about. "But about the not-hearing-me thing. When I go on hunting trips, I suppress my thoughts as much as possible. That way, they won't interrupt me."
I wondered who was the speaking-evil person, since Edward and Alice could see and hear it. Maybe it was Bella. Could she tell someone what to do? Whoa, then she'd be the most dangerous of all. I was wrong not to fear her first, instead of Emmett.
What can Emmett do? Rosalie? Renesmee? Did they all have powers? What about their parents? Was Jacob a part of this? Did he know about them? Did they do something bad to get these powers, like steal a sacred orb, or suck the life out of a powerful queen?
"I understand that. I have heard Brooke's thoughts. I hear them now," Edward explained. "Her thoughts are widely stretched. They center around many things, too many things, and if she were to focus on hunting with them still inside her head, it would impede her focus."
"Uh, yeah. What he said," I agreed. He heard me the whole time, didn't he? I took his smug smile as confirmation.
"That doesn't solve our problem." Jasper looked at me; his piercing black eyes were—whoa!
"Wait, why are your eyes black now? Do you guys wear contacts to fit in with the people at school? Because if that's it, you might want a different color than yellow, because that's not normal."
"They grow black when we're hungry," Bella said, stepping closer. Edward took his hand and grabbed Bella's arm, restraining her from getting any closer.
I unconsciously backed away. "So, what? Do you guys drink animal blood for a living?" Animal blood. Drink. Hmm. I gasped hard as I figured out the truth. "Vampires? Omigod. No way."
"She knows too much, Edward." Alice looked at me with worry, but I didn't seem to be paying attention to what she was saying. I was excited and terrified that I was standing with a bunch of vampires, talking to them and figuring other things out, like their extra abilities.
"Do we kill her?" Jasper asked, and that's when I started to concentrate on the conversation.
"Kill me? I'm going to die? Already?" I asked, my voice a pitch higher.
"Humans aren't supposed to know about us." Bella inhaled deeply.
"Oh." An idea clicked in my brain. "Were you a human when Gramps knew you?"
She looked at Edward. "Yes. I was."
"Edward's the reason you became a vampire?" I saw him hold her hand.
"Yes."
"Edward, what shall we do?" Alice probed.
"Well, if you're going to kill me, you'd better do it quick. Michael's sure to be searching for me," I warned them. I didn't want to die, but I didn't want them to get into trouble, either.
"Shouldn't you be scared?" Bella asked, confused at my calm manner.
Suddenly, Alice immobilized, her eyes blank as she stared into the sky. She looked just as she did at lunch today.
"What is it, Alice?" Jasper asked, placing his hands gently on her shoulder.
"I'm not sure. But...she's involved with it somehow."
I looked around. "Me?" Everyone turned their faces to stare at my confused eyes.
"It's unclear. But I can't...I can't see anyone but her..."
Edward looked as absorbed as Alice was, and I realized Edward would be able to see what Alice envisioned through her mind.
"NO!" they both said abruptly in unison, their voices horrified and fierce.
"Brooke, where are you?" I heard Michael call out from the trees. Suddenly, I heard him grunt, and then a gunshot was audible, scaring the birds away from their comfort zone in the branches.
Immediately, I felt a burning sensation around my rib area. The flaming suddenly immobilized my body and I started to feel numb. I looked back at the Cullens, at their appalled faces, at their even blacker eyes, at their hungry stares, but they weren't looking at me. They were looking at my stomach. I followed their gaze to see a lava flow of red liquid soak through my camouflage jacket and drenching my hands as I touched it. The tender spot tingled where my hand became in contact with it, and it felt like I was looking at someone else's body, but feeling what they were feeling.
Bella stepped forward, hesitantly, but Edward had her in his clutch, and he tightened it, preventing her from coming any closer.
"Oh. My. God! BROOKE!"
I turned around again, now feeling intense pain from the movement, and I saw Michael with the gun in his hand. I couldn't hold myself perpendicular and I suddenly weakened my knees. An icy hand caught me, and I saw his yellow hair as I looked up, but I felt lethargic. I wondered if Jasper was making me feel that. What were those guys called? The ones who forced you to feel a certain emotion? I wasn't quite sure. I would have to search that once I had Internet access.
"Mike?" I heard Bella say. Michael looked up at her, then at me, his eyes aghast with guilt and sorrow.
He kneeled down to me though my head was still in Jasper's lap. Tears began streaming down his face like a never-ending waterfall. "Oh, God, Brooke! I'm so, so, so sorry! I-I tripped a-and then I, and then I—the gun—it was in my hand, and I-I-I—I'm sooo sorry, Brooke!" he sobbed as he apologized.
I realized then—I was the one who got shot. And Michael, my brother, was the one who shot me. Oh, a cruel world, it was!
"Please," he continued, "you have to help her! Call someone, something! Please!" I could barely perceive his words, his tears in the way of his dialogue, but I knew there would be no help. We were in the range of no service if anyone had a cell phone in hand.
"Edward, did you see it?" I heard someone say.
"But Alice—"
"Edward, she will die. My vision is solid now."
I wondered why I didn't feel sad. I was sure I would live through to tomorrow; the pain wasn't so drastic. Michael was just overreacting, probably. But then again, it could be Jasper, making me feel better than I actually was.
"It's the only way, Edward."
"What? What is? What're you going to do?" Michael's words were frantic, and his clasp became tighter on my arms as he spoke to the Cullens.
"Michael, is it? We have a way for your sister to...to subsist in this world," Edward sounded tormented, as if he were going against his will speaking those words to my brother.
"Okay, do it, whatever! Just help her, please!"
He hesitated. "But, if I do this...she will never be the same. She will not be able to see you or any of your family again."
"What? Wh-what are you talking...?"
Edward leaned down, looking intently into Michael's eyes. "Do you wish for that?"
Michael looked back at me with indecision in his stare, alongside the tears. It took a moment for him to answer. "Yes, please, just save her."
"You mustn't speak a word of this. Brooke needs to vanish, and you cannot tell anyone of this affair," Jasper added.
"Yes, I understand," Michael affirmed solemnly, his lips trembling. His eyes were still on mine, and I felt them closing, slowly but surely. "Brooke, I'm so sorry." He leaned in to kiss my forehead. "I love you, little sis" were his final words before everything turned pitch black.