June 22, 2009~

My eyelids are sore with tears and my back is aching terribly. I am lying against a cinnamon-stone wall and sitting on a cobblestone street in an alleyway of an ancient city. The sound of a large crowd rings in my ears as I rub my head. Where am I? I think to myself, looking around. People in long bloodred robes walk throughout the streets as I crawl to the edge of the alleyway and peek out. The San Marcus Day Festival in Volterra, I tell myself. What am I doing in Volterra?

As if on cue, a bright yellow Porsche speeds through the cobblestone streets, whipping up the wind and blowing my hair around my face. Alice, I immediately think. I look both ways before sprinting out of the alleyway and down the cobblestone road after the Porsche. My heart pounds in my ears as I run as fast as my legs can take me, keeping my eyes securely focused on the yellow car. It comes to a halt and a girl with wavy brown hair, ivory skin, and a panicked expression leaps out. Bella.

"Bella! Bella Cullen!" I cry, racing after her as she pushes through the mass of people in red cloaks. I try again. "Bella Swan!!"

She still does not respond but I tear through the crowd harder and faster to catch up with her. She runs up a staircase and through alleyways and finally we reach the middle of Volterra. I stare up at everything in astonishment, but then notice Bella dart past me and search frantically through horde of people. I chase after her and finally grab her wrist. The massive clock tower ticks away with seconds till noon.

"Bella, Bella, calm down," I say. Her deep brown irises are full of horror and nervousness.

"H-How do you know who I am?" she stammers.

"Just trust me," I tell her, my trembling fingers releasing her from my grip. "We have to find Edward!"

"Edward! Where is he?" Bella exclaims. She backs up into me and the world spins too fast around us. "There!" she cries, and points to an arch beneath the clock tower. She dashes away, splashing through the fountain as the clock booms twelve o'clock noon. I follow quickly and begin screaming with Bella. "No, Edward, DON'T!!" She makes one last heroic dive at her future husband and pushes him back into the shadows. My heart swells with relief until two guards pick me up and grab me by my arms and yank me away.

"No, stop!" I holler, kicking and shouting for help. "Bella! Edward!" I turn and they are gone from the shadows.

"Your time is up, Renesmee," a soft voice coos evilly as I look up to see Jane standing before me. Her red eyes glisten hungrily and her angelic face stuns me. "It's time to do something I've wanted ever since the day I first saw you," she growls and then everything is gone.

"AHH!" I scream and jolt awake from the terrifying sleep. I look around and see nothing but pure whiteness. No walls, no floors, no ceilings; where am I now?

Then I remember everything from the New Moon poster gone wrong in my room to the very second before Travis and I were struck by that car. My head throbs slightly, but I know I can endure it.

"Renesmee?"

Edward? He is here?! "Edward!" I call and get up onto my feet, but collapse again from dizziness. My head is spinning in endless circles as I hear someone approaching me.

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen, a.k.a. Charlotte Marie Brenner," a tall man in a creamy white toga snorts. "Your time is up."

I am still extremely disoriented. "Can you please tell me where I am?"

"Welcome to purgatory, kid," the toga man says, holding a clipboard and scrawling something onto it. He has curly brown hair and tan skin. "You were killed in a car accident."

"No, we were run over by a truck."

He rolls his eyes and glares at me. "Same thing. They both involve vehicles."

I wrinkle my nose. "Where is Travis?"

"He woke up a few hours ago. Landed right beside where you are now. We were going to take you too, but we decided to let you rest."

"Who are you?" I croak.

"I am Mick, the guardian of purgatory. My brother Michael is the guardian of heaven…but he gets all the credit. I mean, I should get some of the glory too! I have to deal with the little earthlings like you."

I shake my head and stare at the ground. "No no no no. This can't happen! I can't be dead. I'm fifteen! I have to get home to Forks with Violet…is she still alive?"

"Violet Eclipse Cullen, a.k.a. Kerry Beth Williams…yup, she's still alive. She is very upset over your death."

"I have to get back to Earth," I insist and get up, wobbling unsteadily.

"I don't think so, Miss Cullen," he says. "Once you're dead, you're dead. There's no going back. And what makes you think you deserve to go back? I get a ton of teens here every day. What makes you any different than any of 'em?"

I take a deep breath. "I am half-vampire, half-human. I was sent away from my family and they don't even know I'm dead. They think I'm still alive and living healthily in New Jersey. Trust me, they would kill themselves if they knew I was dead."

Mick sighs and groans. "I've never gotten vampire kids before." He looks through his clipboard and a little manila folder appears in his hand. It has my name on it in bold print. "You see, kid, the problem with vampires is that they're memories don't get erased when we do the switch. So they remember everything from the previous life, and the current life."

"What switch?" I ask curiously.

"When we return a human back to Earth, which we only usually do with young kids, we rewind everything to the past years they were born. It's like they start over completely. The thing is, you get to be the same person with the same family and history, but your life goes down a different path. This new life, you wouldn't be diagnosed with that myth disease you had when you were little. But anything or anyone that's meant to be in your life, somehow clashes in with your story."
"Like the way my parents met?"

"Sure," Mick says.

I sigh. "But will there be any Twilight Series or anything? Will Stephenie Meyer have written the books and the movie and everything?"

Mick shakes his head. "Your memory would never be transferred to her head because of the no-disease thing. Besides, you only get a shot at fame once, kid. It ain't fair for everyone if the same people keep being famous. We can have books in there that were made before you were born, but not any that were published when you were alive."

I pause. When was I born? Renesmee was born in 2006, only three years ago. Does that make sense? I just turned fifteen in September (even though to the Brenners I'm still considered fourteen)…how long was I with the Brenners? Nothing seems to make any sense, or come any clearer at all.

Mick is about to walk away when I grab his arm and demand, "You know how to get me back?"

He rolls his eyes. "Yes. But you have to prove that you're worthy enough to go back to Earth. Then we gotta do some whole switch that erases everyone's memories and we start from wherever you want to start, but it has to be somewhere in your young life."

I think about this. "Will Bella and Edward remember everything from this life? And Jacob and Violet?"

Mick bites his lip. "Because they aren't humans, they will. We can only alter human minds, but because we didn't create vampires we can't meddle with their heads."

"Will I remember?"

Mick looks down at his clipboard. "Because you're half-vampire, some things are gonna trigger you're memory and you'll see images from this life." He points to me. "And your friends Jimmy and Vera? Are they all-human?"

"Jacob and Violet," I correct. "Jacob is a…um…shape-shifter, or werewolf. And Violet may have some vampire genes in her."

"Jacob will have the same thing you have. It isn't until he actually sees you that he'll remember everything. Same with you. It isn't until you see your parents together that you'll remember everything. I don't know about this Violet girl, though."

I shrug. "What about the ones that were imprinted on by the wolves?" Immediately, my mind flashes the sad picture of Michelle.

"Listen, kid, I don't know all that much about 'em. If they remember, they remember. I can't control that." He snatches my arm and leads me off to a big building with large columns and white marble, like a Greek temple.

"Where are we going?"

"To see the Judges. They'll determine whether or not we get to do the switch."

I silently pray they decide to let us.

Part II:

There is a huge oak-wood desk that rides in a semi-circle around the large room, each with an important-looking person at a spot. The room is packed with lines of people who look impatient and frazzled…and bemused.

"Go on, there," Mick orders, shoving me onto a line behind a small girl.

"What do I do??" I shriek.

"Just stand there and answer the Judge's questions. Don't interrupt him. Just follow his lead," Mick says, and then he runs out the door.

I tap the little girl on the shoulder. "Excuse me, do you know what you're doing?"

She shakes her head, her wide black eyes oddly familiar. "I was kidnapped by a bad man and then he pulled out a gun and shot me. I woke up in this place a few minutes ago and a nice lady brought me here."

I shudder. "I was hit by a truck." The line quickly extends longer behind me. People begin groaning impatiently.

"It kinda sucks to die," she says, giggling. "I wanna go straight to heaven, if they have enough room there for me."

"Yeah. I'm actually gonna try and convince the Judges to do a switch and let me go back to Earth."

The girl shakes her head. "I don't wanna go back. My favorite babysitter vanished almost a year ago because she went on this scary mission and now, I really miss her. Maybe she'll be up there." She points to the ceiling.

I gasp in horror as I suddenly recognize the little girl that I used to babysit as the one standing in front of me.

"What was her name?"

"Charlotte. But her real name was Renee or Emily or something close to that."

"Talia," I whisper, my voice shaking.

Her eyes bulge as looks up at me, as if seeing me for the first time.

"Talia, it's me. Renesmee. Charlotte."

I cannot believe Talia is dead. Of all the people I could meet up with in purgatory, it is the sweet, caring little girl who I used to babysit.

"Oh, Charlotte!" she cries as she hugs me tightly. "Was it really a truck that killed you? Or did the vampires come and eat you?"

I laugh weakly. "No, it was really the truck."

"What about Bella and Edward? And Perry?"

I gulp. "Bella and Edward have no idea that I died. Kerry knows, though."

"Oh." Talia looks at her feet. "Charlotte, why don't you stay so we can be in heaven together?"

Her small words crush me like a thousand pounds of cement. "I can't. I have to go back." I kneel down to meet her eyes. "I have to keep Kerry and my family safe."

"Okay," Talia nods. Just then, the Judge on our line cranes his neck over the desk to peer down at her. "You go on that line over there with the other young ones, Miss Talia Angelina Vasquez." He points to a line across the room where a bunch of frightened-looking little kids are.

"Bye, Charlotte. Keep them safe," she murmurs as she sulks toward the other line.

"Ah, Miss Renesmee Carlie Cullen. Date of birth: September 10, 2006. Date of death: November 20, 2009." The ancient Judge pauses. "You know, I imagined you a whole lot younger than this."

"Uh yes, Your Honor." Well, what am I supposed to call him? "I am half-vampire, half-human so I age faster. I'm actually fifteen."

He smiles a warm grin that sends the sides of his mouth wrinkling gently. "My dear Renesmee, your father and mother, Edward Anthony Masen-Cullen and Isabella Marie Swan-Cullen, do not know of your sudden death." He sighs. "Very sad."

"Your Honor, that's why I need to ask you a favor."

The Judge's kind face is full of concern. "Yes, my dear?"

"I want to do a switch. Like, go back to Earth and relive from the age of…ten."

He blinks a few times and then looks down at his paperwork. "To the age of ten? Which year would that be, because of your aging problem?"

I don't like how he calls my aging a 'problem'. It makes me feel like child with a severe disability or something. "I-I'm not sure, Your Honor," I admit truthfully. Suddenly, my past life becomes completely blurry as if being swallowed into a dark hole.

"We can try," he says. "But we must notify your parents so that they are not confused when their entire life changes overnight." He grins. "Literally."

"Um, yes," I smile weakly as he gives a hearty laugh. "But, Your Honor, vampires' memories aren't erased."

"Yes," he says. "But they can be bewildered." He winks. "I'll send Micken to tell them of your dear misfortune."

I nod, but suddenly think of another question. "Your Honor, will I have the same past when I am ten? For instance, will I have memories of my unlived life before it?"

"Good question," he says, folding his hands neatly. "Only time will be able to answer that question. Your life before that is like someone hit an ultra-speed fast-forward button from the time you were born to the time you first wake up in your new life, in your case when you're ten years old. Your life will not be the same, except for the things that are destined to be. Only you, Renesmee Carlie Cullen, hold the key to that lock."

I gulp. He makes it sound like I'm the answer to everyone's unsolved questions.

"Be ready to see Isabella Marie and Edward Anthony," he tells me. "Micken will take you to them for a personal greeting."

All of a sudden, I turn and see Mick standing behind me. "Let's go, kid," he says.

"Thank you, Your Honor," I manage as Mick tows me away from the large oak desk.

"Anything, my dear Renesmee." He winks as the man yanks me down the marble steps of the building.

Part III:

Mick leads me to a huge limestone fountain with cupids and ferocious lion heads spewing the lavender water. Rain began to fall in sheets while we were walking, but now it just plunges like a waterfall. I am completely drenched through to my skins, and my bronze hair drips and hangs like limp string. My black high-top Cons slosh with water in every slowed step I take. I peek up at Mick under my soaked bangs and nod gently. He hands me the tarnished silver quarter as I step forward and place the coin on my thumb, which is tucked under my curled index finger. This is it.

I snap my thumb up and watch as the quarter flips and somersaults through the air. It hits the surface of the odd-colored water, and I find myself holding my breath nervously.

A stunning light erupts from the lavender fountain into a pearl cloud of mist. Mick and I watch in astonishment as a picture of Bella and Edward appears. They are sitting in the all-too-familiar front room of the small cottage. She sobs without tears as Edward takes the glass picture frame from her hand and traces the person in the photo with his slender finger. The girl in the photo is me.

Mick places a hand on my shoulder. "It looks like someone beat us to the punch, kid," he whispers.

"Yeah," I barely manage. I reach out to the mist but Mick wrenches my hand back.

"Go on," he encourages. "Say something, but don't touch it. We'll lose contact." He nudges me closer to the fountain. The pounding of the rain seems to quiet to an all-out silence, but the water still comes down in buckets. I blink a few times as my heart thuds anxiously.

What am I going to say? What am I supposed to say? Hi, it's Nessie. I kinda died a few hours ago…

"B-Bella? E-Edward?" I stammer, clutching my locket.

"Renesmee?" Bella sobs. "Renesmee, is that you?" She turns around and sees me standing there in the form of the mist, as if I am a ghost. "Nessie!" she cries and runs to me. The mist shimmers as she tries to hug me, and she steps back. "Nessie…what happened to you?"

"I was killed by a truck, Mom. I…I'm sorry."

Edward approaches, fear in his eyes.

"I know, baby, I know," Bella weeps. Her eyes scan me anxiously, looking for an answer, but she stands there in puzzlement.

"I'm in purgatory, and I'm getting a second chance at life. My memory will be erased, but everything will come back to me when I see you both together. You will both remember everything, but no one else will. I'm starting from the age of ten, and I don't know where I'll be, but the way you two met will stay the same. From the time I was born to now, everything will be different."

Bella bites her lip.

"We want you back, love," Edward whispers.

I nod. "I'm gonna come home, Dad. In a new life."

He looks at the ground, as if realizing something for the first time, and sighs.

"I have to go, Mom and Dad. I'm sorry."

"No, baby, please!" Bella suddenly hollers, and reaches toward the mist. It flickers, and then dies out. Again, I am standing in the pouring rain feeling so alone.

"Are…are you okay?" Mick asks, looking down at me.

"I'm fine," I murmur. "Fine."

"You're sure you wanna do this?"

"Yeah. Let's just get it over and done with."

Mick helps me into the fountain spewing lavender liquid. The water is warm against my cold skin and it goes knee-deep. He takes out a small, ornate bottle from his robe and clicks the top off. Golden fluid slides like honey down the glass as he tilts it over my head. It pours over my hair and sends shivers down my spine…its smell is so rich and delicious.

"What…scent…is…this?" I babble, suddenly feeling sleepy. Black dots dance across my vision, getting bigger each time.

"I'll see ya, Nessie," Mick says, just as I fall unconscious and drop into the water.

Then, I woke up.