Author Note: Let me be honest…I'm not a great writer or storyteller in general, but I had an idea for this story that seemed so perfect in my mind and I really wanted to read it, so now I have to write it (LOL). Just a couple more short chapters and we'll begin where my story really takes off.
It was strange. On one hand, it felt like time had stood still; on the other, it felt as if it was passing too quickly. Minutes turned into hours, hours into days, days into weeks, and weeks into months…it all blended together.
One moment they were here - beautiful, perfect, and everything I had always wanted in a family. The next, they were gone, ripping open my chest and taking my heart with them. There was nothing left there, just a hole where my heart should have been. A painful, open wound, reminding me with every breath that my heart was gone.
A best friend and sister, doting mother and gentle father, a first love, a big brother who was soft and goofy, a cold sister who, despite her behavior, I still loved...I thought they were my family, but I suppose not. Their loyalty lies with their son and brother. Not a wrong choice, but a choice that hurts nonetheless.
Time stopped when my dad started talking about sending me back to my mom's. I just couldn't leave. Too many what-ifs. The chances of them coming back were slim. Logically, I knew that, but there was a part of me that refused to give up hope that I would see them again. So I promised dad I'd start trying harder.
One ghostly voice in my head, one vampire trying to kill me, and men who turn into horse-sized wolves saving me somehow landed me on the edge of this cliff.
I didn't want to die, not really, but danger brought me his voice. A small comfort. I stared down at the dark water below, waiting.
"Don't do this," Edward's voice whispered in my head. A part of me was surprised it was his voice I heard, I half expected it to be Jasper's. Still I smiled at the voice as I leapt off the cliff. A scream caught in my throat and I hit the water hard. It was cold, much colder than I had expected. I tried to swim upward, but the current kept pushing me, tossing me around like I weighed nothing. My lungs ached, and I fought against the water.
I'm going to drown, I realized suddenly. I survived a car crash, vampires hunting me, wolves phasing around me, and now I'm going to freaking drown. The voice in my head was still there, urging me not to give up, but I was so tired. Without a conscious thought, my body had stopped moving, stopped fighting against the water. A new voice entered my head. Not just a voice but a memory. You're worth it, the voice told me. My lips turned up in a smile as my eyes slid closed.