The memories started out happy. Alice and me were laughing as we plopped ourselves down against the lamp stand. It felt exactly like I remembered it did, except there were now two of me and, even better, two of Alice.
Alice moved closer towards me and silently grabbed my hand as we watched the human me fall asleep against Alice's shoulder.
Soon after, the memory faded back to me in the middle of school waiting for Alice to drive to up like I always did. Except she wasn't there this time. Alice was never late and I could see the worried look on my face as I slowly made my way towards class without her.
The scene cut to me running out of class with my books, papers flying everywhere. I had a cell phone clutched in my right hand as I ran towards my locker, opening it and throwing everything in. Once the locker was shut the memory me ran towards the street and began a steady jog towards the outskirts of town. The cell phone pressed against my face as I frantically called Alice's phone one more time.
Due to both Alice's and my advanced hearing we couldn't miss the animated voice message saying "This number is no longer in use." The real me cringed in remembrance of what was to come.
The scene cut once again as I knocked on the door frantically. No one answered which was really odd considering the Cullens never usually went out all at once. Forgetting my key in my locker I sighed deeply and calmed myself down, reminding myself of the spare key in the garage. I punched in the numbers on the keypad, my fingers shaking so badly I had to try a couple of times before the garage doors slowly made their way towards the roof of the building. I gasped at the sight I saw… it was empty. Being eternal beings, the Cullens had a large array of vehicles, more of them than people in the family. All the cars were gone though, and I suddenly knew somehow that I was never going to see Alice again.
A loud cry echoed through the garage as I fell to the ground and screamed.
I sighed at the sight, chancing a look at Alice. Her eyes were shimmering in a way where I knew she would be crying if she could.
The memories slowly faded back to my home where my parents got angry at me for being out so late without calling them. I dumbly stared at them, a dead look permanently fixed upon my face. They didn't seem to notice as they sent me up to my room for the night.
The scenes were moving faster. I didn't want to say anything because I knew exactly why they were so fast. I was only truly aware of one thing during that time before my parents were killed. Everything else was a blur…
I stood up from my bed and almost toppled over from exhaustion and malnutrition and walked over to my closet, grabbing a smallish box that said, "Anna's Memories." I went back towards the bed and set it down gently. Looking at the top for a couple seconds I sighed and took off the top of the box. A couple of trinkets could be seen from where we were standing but the majority of the box was hidden from us. My hands slowly caressed the edges before they disappeared into the box, coming back up with a couple pictures. I smiled softly and sighed, tears running down my sallow cheeks.
Alice let go of my hand and walked towards the memory me looking at the picture. Her face crumpled as she took it in.
I sighed again as my fingers traced a part of the school picture from the beginning of the year; Alice's face. My eyes closed as my face turned blissfully happy before crumpling into a bitter smile. Gently, I placed the picture to my side and continued taking things out of the box and placing them by my side.
Alice looked towards the memory me and slowly lifted her hand. She went to reach for my face but something stopped her as she looked back towards me. I could see the apologetic look in her eyes as she moved back towards the real me, gripping my hand tightly when I grimaced at the sight before me…
I picked up something small and caressed it gently before pulling it out of the box. It was a razor. My eyes closed again as my breathing picked up in speed. I hadn't wanted to do this, but I couldn't handle the hole in my heart any longer.
Gripping the side of my bed with one hand, I slowly moved the razor towards the clenched hand and pushed it across my pale skin. Red tinged the blade as I sighed in both pain and bliss. My eyes opened, looking towards the small line and the tiny trail of blood running down my arm. An almost possessed look crossed my eyes as my hand slowly moved back and forth, dancing along my arms.
Alice closed her eyes tightly and stopped breathing. For a moment I thought the blood was bothering her when I realized that we couldn't smell anything.
"Do you want me to stop?" I breathed, shaking her hand gently when she didn't respond.
"No," Alice choked finally, looking in my eye.
My face fell and I sighed deeply. I was hoping she would say yes and that would be that, but of course, Alice being Alice, would be stubborn and refuse to leave until the very end. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the next memory.
"Tell me where they are!" Jacob demanded, slapping me across the face. I yelped in pain and grabbed the now pink skin. The rest of the wolves surrounded me not letting me escape, cruel smiles on their faces. Sam's face was the only composed one as he spoke firmly.
"Anna... it's very important that you tell us. They broke the treaty and now must pay."
I looked down towards my shoes refusing to say anything.
Sam sighed as Jacob moved closer. Gripping my arms roughly he moved his face close to my ear whispering, "Say goodbye to your parents." I began thrashing against his vice grip, sobs tearing through me as the rest of the wolves moved back and disappeared into the thick forest.
The memory shifted to the Forks cemetery as a small group of people walked through the courtyard in all black. I could see myself in a long sleeved shirt, jacket and baggy jeans standing off to the side with a dead look in my face. No emotion showed as Mark stood beside me.
"Are you ready to speak yet?" Mark asked, using his hand to push my face up so I would look at him. My eyes immediately averted as Mark chuckled and stepped back. "Then I'll see you later," he promised before walking back towards the parking lot.
A silent tear traveled my face but the rain washed it away almost immediately.
Alice let out a sob as she turned away from the memories. I slight look of panic took her as the memory turned darker, the light of the lamp shining through the darkness. A small figure was huddled underneath it shivering from the wind as two more characters walked up to her.
"Hello, my dear." Mark chuckled when I didn't look up at him. "I believe tonight is your first… lesson."
He and the other man walked closer towards me as I began shaking more violently from fear. I was ripped up one on each side of me as they slowly began kissing my neck and restraining my arms when I began to thrash around.
"Stop!" I begged repeatedly as they began removing my clothes, forcing me towards the forest where they abused me over and over again.
The figures were seen leaving as a broken and bruised me curled into a ball and began sobbing quietly. "Why did you have to leave me? Why wasn't I good enough?" I gasped as the wind picked up and I began shivering once again.
Alice collapsed to her knees as the words left my mouth. She kept whimpering "no" but the scenes continued changing.
"Can I help you?" One of the nurses spoke in a pleasant tone. I had been wandering the halls in a mild panic because I couldn't figure out where the exit was when she came up behind me tapping my shoulder gently.
I bit my lip trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "Umm... how do you get out?" I asked pulling at the end material of my shirt looking at my shoes.
She smiled at me and chanted out a couple directions before she turned around and walked down the hall. I bolted, following her instructions and finally made it to the exit. I paused in horror when I saw that Jacob and Mark were waiting for me, smiling.
"What took you so long? Let's go,"
They split up one on each side of me as all three of us walked out of the building.
I began trembling as images and sounds of what happened after we left the hospital overwhelmed my vision. Memories of the past swelled in my brain causing me to fall to my knees and grip my head in pain. Around us the pictures began blurring at the speed of the thoughts. Alice ran towards me, screaming something before extending her hand and slapping my face.