Chapter 1: The Glory of war


~War does not determine who is right - only who is left. - Bertrand Russell~


The atmosphere in the class was of a bored one, no one wanted to sit in the history class after having a good afternoon meal. Mr Hale didn't seem to share our thoughts, he was immersed in his own world.

"Students, turn to page 37. Let us continue the interesting chapter about the First World War ." Mr Hale instructed, rubbing his hand excitedly together.

The gorgeous blonde girl sitting next to me snickered quietly, clearly not sharing Mr Hale's positive enthusiasm.

"Is something hilarious, Miss Denali?" Mr Hale frowned critically, placing his textbook down on the table.

"Nothing, sir," She replied and flipped her golden hair back with a charming sweet smile.

The class continued for the next twenty minutes before Mr Hale stopped his lecture and told us to close our books. The class immediately began chatting loudly.

"Had a nice nap?" I whispered to Sasha a.k.a the blonde girl.

"Yep," Sasha shot me a smirk and stretched her legs.

Mr Hale cleared his throat "Now class. I had discussed with the Principal to give you all a surprise. I'm going to take you all on a private tour to the Eternal Cemetery."

"What?" Several people started yelling.

"But Mr Hale, no one is allowed inside." I raised my voice to be heard over all the loud voices.

"I know, class calm down. The Mayor has agreed to our decision."

The Eternal Cemetery was basically the sleeping place for a few soldiers who died in the First World War. The citizens of Forks, that's where I live, during the time of the First World war built a special cemetery with high walls and beautiful statues and buried the soldiers who died fighting here along with their families, what was left of them, that is.

Then they locked it forever, claiming that it wasn't a tourist spot. It was a resting place for the brave soldiers. Well, that's what our parents informed us. Generation to generation, the same story was passed on to children.

"It will be easy when you are learning, since their birth and death dates will be marked on the tomb stones. It will be useful. You should all be proud since the Mayor thinks you students are worth it." Mr Hale muttered the next sentence under his breath but I caught it since I was sitting at the front. "I highly doubt it, though."

"Oooooh, we're going to do some ghost hunting." Sasha cackled beside me, hitting me in the elbow.

I rolled my eyes playfully. "I'm not sure if Heidi is happy about it."

We both turned around simultaneously and eyed the red haired girl sitting in the corner of the class chewing bubble gum, her mind didn't seem to be in the class.

I tore a piece of paper from my notepad then scribbled on it before throwing it at her, it hit her directly on the forehead and she looked up angrily.

Sasha wants to do some ghost hunting, you in? – B

When she realized that I was the one who had thrown the paper she relaxed and opened it, taking an annoyingly long time. Then she threw it back at me, which I caught neatly between my fingers. Under my message, her familiar scrawl was there.

I'd rather hunt hot boys :p – H

"Typical," I remarked drily as I passed the paper to Sasha.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the class and I mentally high fived the air.

"The plan is to meet me in the Eternal cemetery at approximately at five this evening, we have to leave early; it's not good to stay during the dark." Mr Hale chuckled at the last part as everyone piled out of the class.

However, he stopped me on the way, "Nice work on the French revolution essay, Bella." he remarked.

"Thanks, Mr Hale." I smiled proudly.

I quickly joined Sasha and Heidi on the corridor. Heidi had her compact make-up kit out and was reapplying her pink lipstick.

"Since when did you and Jasper become friends?" She asked, pouting her perfect lips into the mirror.

"Shhh," I pressed my index finger to my mouth. "Do you want to get caught saying Mr Hale's first name? We're not friends, I just did good work on the last essay."

"Everything about you is good." Sasha chirped, pinching my cheeks with a fond smile.

"Yeah, whatever." I laughed as we walked away.


Later that evening, approximately at 5 pm, we all stood outside the cemetery waiting for Mr Hale to open the large creepy Iron Gate. Mr Hale was talking with the guard and we wondered if the Mayor had changed his mind.

"I have a ton of homework to do," Sasha whined, fanning out her hair. "Mr Hale should have confirmed it before he brought us all the way out here."

Sasha Denali had been my best friend ever since I stood up for her when a boy said that she had ugly eyes. I mean, seriously, we were just fifth graders and this eight grade boy thought that he knew who was Miss Universe in the school.

When I look back, it was all pretty lame.

Sasha was practically Aphrodite in the school campus with big blue eyes, long golden hair and a tall thin body. She was bossy and a little arrogant and I knew that her secret desire was to be better than most people but there was a sweet side to her.

Heidi Carter on the other hand was my neighbour so we had been friends for forever. She had green eyes, glossy red hair and very large breasts which she was infamously known for in the school.

"It looks like a storm is coming." Alec Volturi joined our conversation, watching the dark gloomy sky worriedly.

"Thank God," I said jokingly "I was wondering what the hell was happening to the old rainy Forks. I can't believe that the entire week was sunny." I continued, pulling my Hermes scarf tightly around my neck.

"Yeah," Alec rubbed his dark hair, making the strands stand in peaks. "We missed you at the rez."

Last Sunday, since it was sunny most of the junior students had planned and gone to the nearby reservation to enjoy the warm day. I was out of town so I couldn't go.

I gave him a smile which he returned widely. Heidi cleared her throat, exchanging a grin with Sasha. I rolled my eyes when Alec wasn't looking; Heidi and Sasha had the strongest belief that Alec was in love with me.

That was a load of crap.

Alec, along with his twin sister Jane, had been a part of our social circle since childhood and they live at the corner of my street, so we saw each other almost every day. I couldn't deny that Alec was handsome. He had an angelic face with pale skin and dark brown eyes.

Jane was just like him though lovelier, with short blonde hair and the same dark brown eyes. Jane and Alec were the cutest siblings in Forks high.

"Students, gather around." Mr Hale finally said, as the guard finally opened the gate.

We made our way inside, all twenty of us sticking together. The cemetery looked creepy from the outside and we didn't really want to know how it looked inside. I froze, taking in the area filled with grand white marble statues and tomb stones.

The thing was, it was kind of small, probably made to look cozy. But cemeteries weren't supposed to be small and cozy. The tall walls enclosed us in, the marbles staring at us with their unnatural eyes and tombstone dates ageing back to 1914.

My inside churned violently in fear and I had the sudden sensation of eyes watching us.

"Woah," Sasha shivered, taking my hand in hers.

"Do we have to do this?" Heidi looked extremely uncomfortable.

Mr Hale himself seemed only a little upset. Alec chuckled and motioned to his sister who was standing opposite us to join us. She walked swiftly towards us and gave us a brilliant smile which helped ease the tension-filled atmosphere.

"I brought a sanitizer, just in case Mr Hale tries to make us clean the tomb stones." She announced in her twinkling voice.

"I bet he has that idea." I shuddered.

"I hope you have all brought your notepads. Divide into groups of four, no groups must have the same names. Write down all the names you see along with their dates." Mr Hale instructed.

"Nice," Alec commented before giving us a crooked grin and leaving to join his other friends, Jane rolled her eyes at him.

We proceeded on to the graves at the end of the row, lingering only a few seconds to take notes before we went on to the other. We finally reached a tomb stone which was wedged in between two beautiful cupid statues. I read it slower than the others, feeling obligated to study the information carefully.

Edward Anthony Masen Jr.

~1900 - 1918~

Beloved son of Edward and Elizabeth Masen.

"He was too young," I whispered, staring at the beautifully etched name.

"Such a pity," Heidi agreed quietly, sadness taking over her features.

Mr Hale, who had over-heard our conversation said. "There are many boys like him who died, fighting bravely but they never found their names mentioned in history. That was why I brought you all here, so you people could at least know some of them and appreciate their efforts."

When he walked away to watch over the next group I turned back to my friends. "I never knew he had that much insight."

I jotted down Edward's name and dates in my notepad and added a star next to it when no one was looking.

"I'm sure he was very brave." I smiled as I closed the note.

Something landed on my bare shoulder and I let out a small scream.

"Calm down, Bella. It's just a flower." Jane picked it from my shoulder and placed it on my palm.

It was small and pink in color with yellow on the ends. And it was the same flower that was growing around Edward's gravestone. There wasn't even a slight breeze and I didn't know how it could have managed to fly all the way to my shoulder.

Odd.

I didn't know why I did but I placed the flower inside my notepad and closed it over. Heidi raised an eyebrow but didn't mention it.

We had moved on to the next one just as Jane complained that she dropped her new pen somewhere and left to go find it.

"This one looks scary." Sasha's eyes were wide.

It was scary because there was no name on the stone and most importantly, we almost missed the stone if it wasn't for the dark green grass growing around it. It seemed to give off an unnaturally creepy atmosphere.

The stone was very small and without a name. A scattered pile of dead leaves sat on top of it.

"It's totally a witches grave. I read on a website once about a special grass that grows on top. This grass looks exactly like the one in the picture." Heidi said.

"And you believe the internet?" I raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Something blue peeked out of it, I bent down and pulled it out.

It was a battered old thick book with a dark red stain on it; I had a horrible feeling that it was blood.

"Alright, guys, it's late." Mr Hale interrupted us, giving us a reason to leave.

"Take it," Heidi whispered sharply.

"No," Sasha growled. I took her advice and swiftly stuffed the book back between the leaves and we quickly joined the others.

When I returned home I went through my regular routine before climbing into my bed. I felt around under my pillow where I usually kept my television remote but froze in confusion when my hand felt something else.

I pulled it out and saw that it was a book, but not the same book I had been reading recently which was on my bedside table, it was the book I had found in the cemetery which I had placed back with the gravestone. I opened the first page with a thundering heart...

I almost screamed.

The person who possesses this book now bears upon my curse.


So here's the first chapter, since you guys seem to looove the summary. I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter but I hope you all like it. Review and tell me what you think about it. Guess who the witch is :D

A special thanks to KissMeI'mScottish for editing the chapter and making it readable :D

-BellaEdwardJacobLove