Soulmate From The Past

Chapter One: The Run-Ins

Our story begins in Chicago in the early 1930's. Edward Cullen, a yound vampire, angry with his fate, had been terrorizing nearby cities for years. Seemingly a 17 year old boy, who in reality had turned 30 just a few months prior. For the past five years Edward had been traveling around the country on a rampage, using his psychic abilities to lure in his victims. It started in 1927 with his adoptive mother's abusive ex-husband, and it only escalated from there. In december of 1931 Edward would go on his last hunt for human blood.

It was midnight, the night before Christmas. A cold, snowy winter night, the moon shining brightly through a few faint clouds. Edward was on the hunt for an exceptionally notorius killer. By this time he had already left a long and bloody trail from city to city and people were starting to notice. On this eve, just as he was about to prowl on his latest target, a shadow came from above and knocked him to the ground with such force it seemed humanly impossible. He was thrown into the wall of a nearby alley, the impact knocked him off his senses for a few seconds. When he regained them, all he could see was the outlined shadow of a young woman standing in the alleyway. She was facing away from him, from her thoughts he understood she was looking to see if anyone had noticed the commotion. When she determined they remained alone and unnoticed she turned towards him. As she moved, the clouds parted on the nightsky and her face was revealed in the moonlight.

Her olive skin glimmered almost like his would shine in the sun. The soft nightbreeze caused her honey blonde hair to flow in gentle waves around her heartshaped face. Her hazel eyes studied him. Edward found himself speechless at the sight of this inhumanly beautiful woman. She asked him where he thought this path would lead and he felt almost compelled to answer her. Though he heard her voice clearly in his head, he noticed her lips had not moved. Her voice, melodic and almost ethereal, was only heard inside his mind. He found himself in a sort of trance, as if he couldn't fully process the scene around him. In an attempt to regain control of the situation, Edward took a step forward, towards the woman. The scene changed completely. The angelic figure in front of him leaps forward and in an effortless movement she had once again knocked him to the ground. This time she stayed above him, making sure he could not get up. Who are you? He thought to himself. You have not yet answered my question, why should I answer yours. Her voice, still only in his mind, had a strange accent to it. You can read my thoughts. He exclaimed but got no response. The woman merely looked at him expectantly. Once again he found himself speechless. The woman sighed, rolled her eyes and straightened up. She held out her hand as if to help him onto his feet and as their hands met, something flashed before his eyes. She retractred her hand instantly and looked at him as if dazed.

The young woman seemed to be not much older than him, somewhere in her early 20's perhaps. Her skin eternally frozen at the age of when she had been turned. She too had extraordinary abilities. The full extent of which Edward would not come to understand for a long time. The images Edward had seen flash before his eyes when their hands had met, were pieces of her memories. This had seemingly startled them both. They stood silently for a while before the woman decided to introduce herself. She asked him to call her "Nika". Told him she had been tracking him for a while, noticing the distruction he had left behind, said she could not ignore it anymore and that she had to intervene. She lead a similar lifestyle to that of his adoptive parents, and she shared a broken past where she too had once left nothing but destruction behind. Determined to make the world better she could not allow him to continue on his current path, not for the sake of societies at large nor for his own wellbeing.

Thus began a beautiful friendship. They spent a few months together in Chicago where Nika showed him a better way to live. She taught him how to heal and overcome the anger that had previously seemed eternal inside him. Once he started to feel whole again, they went their separate ways. Edward returned home to his adoptive parents and Nika continued her own journey. They would not see eachother again for over 16 years. Edward told his family nothing of his meeting with this woman and remained vague about his travels. In 1933 his father turned another young woman by the name of Rosalie Hale. His parents worried about him and had hoped him and Rosalie could find peace in one another. This had not been the case. Although Rosalie was incredibly beautiful, Edward could not stand her shallow and self-absorbed mind. She was one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on, yet he could not erase the image of Nika from his mind. Rosalie eventually found her match in Emmet two years after her own transformation. Edward remained alone.

His family thought he may finally find a mate in a close family friend, Tanya Denali. Tanya was a stunningly beautiful woman, even for a vampire she stood out. Considered irresistable to most men, she held great affection for Edward, but he did not return the interest. Tanya and her sisters were older than any of the Cullen's. Turned at the age of 24 over a millenia ago, she had seen her fair share of life. Edward and Tanya remained good friends inspite of his rejection. This is why, when the Cullen's came to visit in the summer of 1947, Tanya thought it a good idea to introduce him to an old friend of hers. It wasn't so much intentional as a spur of the moment thought as her friend showed up on her doorstep during one stormy summernight. A knock on the door interrupted a social gathering in the living area of the Denali's Alaskan home. Tanya went to open it and came back after a few minutes with someone in tow. She turns to Edward and tells him there is someone she thinks he should meet, an old friend of hers that she thinks he would get along very well with. Edward looks at her unintrigued, his family has been trying to find him a partner for decades now. Rosalie looks up from a book, clearly amused from the thought of this prospect. If he did not want to settle with Tanya, the most stunningly beautiful woman in the world, who could possibly peak his interest. Behind Tanya in the hallway comes a surprisingly familiar face. Edward is stunned and once again finds himself speechless at the sight of Nika.

A knock on the door and the whole world changes. Edward had assumed Nika had only come into his life for a short period of time to set him straight and be this angelic presence who saved him from himself. He had not expected to ever see her again. Yet here she is. Ethereally beautiful as the first and last time he had seen her. She smiles at him, and reaches her hand out as if to greet him. Their hands meet and Edward braces himself, but no images appear in his mind this time. Nika looks amused as she watches him relax.

Edward's POV

"We've actually met before" I hear her melodic voice tell the others whom I had entirely forgotten were in the room with us. "Oh?" Tanya exclaims with a look of surprise.. and something else. I can feel the stares of my family on the back of my head as I start to tell them the story of how we met during my travels over a decade prior, how she saved me and sent me on a new path. I cannot take my eyes off of Nika the entire time. "Yes, he was a bit of a lost soul there for a while but it seems he's been keeping in check these past decades." She smiles and the dimples in her cheeks deepen. A smile that both teases and reassures me.

Had I been less distracted by Nika I might have noticed Tanya's thoughts during our exchange. By the time I snap out of it and return my attention to the rest of the room, Tanya has already spun into a happy speech of how her and Nika met and what a coincidence this was. "...Three centuries ago, in England of all places!" Tanya exclaimed. Nika giggled at the enthusiasm in Tanya's words, "I'm afraid it was a lot less cheerful than this story sounds." Tanya scoffed at this and left the story open for Nika to finish. "Oh I don't think now is the time for such stories, besides I'd much rather talk about the present day." Nika was a nomad. Tanya had offered many times over the centuries that she join their clan but the offer was always declined. "I have a calling in this life, I have no peace to be settled in one place for too long when there is so much going on in the world." Nika continued on to tell us stories from her adventures all over the world, she truly seemed to make an impact wherever she went. I could sense a tiny bit of jealousy as Tanya's sisters' thoughts pierce through the athmosphere. Nika's close bond with their older sister seems to be something they both admire and envy. Nika smiles as Tanya chips in and continues to tell stories of their shared adventures.

As the night goes on I am questioned several times by Rosalie as to why I never shared that I met someone in my time away from them. Her and Nika seem to have this immediate bond between them, as if they've known eachother forever. Jealous? A melodic voice asks inside my mind. A little, I confess. Nika giggles behind me. "It is nice to see you again, Eddie", she smiles. A smile that could light up a thousand fires in any cold man's heart. "I did not think we would ever run into one another again.", My voice betrays the sadness behind the words and I realize the entire room is listening to our conversation. Nika seems to notice as well, or perhaps she read my mind, but her response is only heard by me. Neither did I. Her smile is slightly faded. "Come on", she called as she grabbed my hand and pulled me with her. She lead me through the front lawn of the estate, to a quiet corner on a cliff, overwatching the town below. "There" She stated, "Now we can speak freely"

And speak freely we did. We each told the other of what our lives had been like since we'd last seen eachother over 16 years ago. Mine, a fairly quiet life with my family, trying to fit in with the humans. Hers, an adventurous tale of danger and peace. Nika had an affinity to find trouble and when she did, she made sure to resolve it before moving on to the next undertaking. When we had first met, I was the undertaking, we had not spoken so much about her. Although not for a lack of me trying to ask. This time, my questions did not go unanswered. I learned that Nika had been born in London, England over five centuries ago. She had a rough life as a human and an unquestionably tragic and gruesome death. She grew up in an abusive household, her father was a mean drunk with a steady hand and her mother a detached woman. She was an only child, on her 16th birthday her mother had kicked her out, no money, no shelter, no nothing. To this day she still has trouble reconciling if her mother did it out of spite or if it was one final try to keep her alive. For three years she was on her own. A young girl alone in the world for anyone to pray on. Shortly before her 20th birthday she ran into a young man, who seemed kind at first. Little did she know he would be the death of her. Rosalie and her had a similar story that way, perhaps that is how they connected so effortlessly. Nika had found herself pregnant, both worried and ecstatic she had told her partner. He had a less joyful reaction. Turns out this young man had been betrothed to the daughter of a wealthy family, should his indiscretions come to light both his and his family's lives would be ruined. So he payed a group of illfated young men to make sure the pregnancy ended, as well as silence Nika forever.

She had been found dead several hours later by an older woman. The woman managed to recucitate her but the shape she was in it was only a matter of time before she'd once again meet her fate. The woman had said she knew of someone who could heal her, that she could live on, but in a different way. Nika, terrified of dying, said yes. A short while later a man arrived at the house. A Vampire by the name of Éimhín, he asked her permission before he turned her. Explained what she would have to go through and what it would mean. She accepted this fate, blinded with rage and grief of her lost baby and the life they should have had. Éimhín lived by a set of rules, no bloodshed, no causing pain. He had seen too much of it in his time. Nika tried but could not live by the same code. She left London and started her own journey. She spent the next centuries terrorizing large parts of Europe. Leaving only bloodshed behind. Her first victims had been the father of her child as well as his entire family and the men they had hired to torture and kill her. For two hundred years she lived like this. Then she met the Denali clan, they were still living their old lifestyle with human victims back then. Tanya and her became this inseperable duo, their shared thirst for human blood insatiable. Eventually Tanya found a better way to live, an animal diet. Nika rebelled against it at first, but eventually realized she too needed to change her lifestyle. She had caused too much damage to the world. Ever since she has been on a journey to try and heal what she had broken. She walks the earth seeking out lost souls on similar paths as she had been, and she stays with them until they too choose a new path. That was how she had found me.

It's an incredibly powerful story. I felt as if my words should not be spoken aloud. Most of our stories are. She seemed to feel the same way. I was used to hearing people's thoughts and responding to them, it was still unfamiliar to me to be able to have a full conversation with someone inside my head. Nika on the contrary seemed perfectly comfortable not having to speak aloud. I am not the first mind reader you encounter. I stated. No, you are not. She looked at me with a slight smile on her lips. "I do not share your mind reading ability." She said. "My gift is to learn, immitate and adapt other's abilities." Her eyes searched mine for something. The man who turned me was a telepath, he could not only read my mind but insert his own thoughts into my head as well. I adapted this ability first. I have since met many vampires with different gifts. She gazed upon the stars on the clear nightsky. Have you adapted all of their skills? I was curious to know exactly what she could do. Not all of them. She smirked. "It takes great focus to be able to learn and adapt to a new skill, it takes time for me, I have to be around the person who's gift it is for a longer period of time." She goes on to explain how it works, but she does not go into detail about which gifts she has been able to master and I do not press the matter. We stay talking outside for what feels like days.

We stay with the Denali clan for a few weeks. Nika and I grow closer and it feels as if no time has passed at all since we first met almost two decades ago. Rosalie and her have a similar bond. Rosalie, Nika and Tanya form a very strong friendship. The time comes for us to leave and as the sun sets on the evening before, Nika says it is time for her to leave in the morning as well. I want to ask her to stay, to come with me, but I understand it is not in her nature to do so. Rosalie has a different approach, she asks Nika to come with us, says she has to meet her husband, Emmett, and our mother, Esme. Nika laughs happily at the proposal but declines it. She explains that she would absolutely love to meet them both, and she would gladly spend more time with us all, but alas she has a calling and it is time for her to get back to it. In the morning we all pack up and as time comes for us to leave, Rosalie and Nika share a tearful goodbye. As for Nika and I, our conversation stays in our minds. Neither of us know when or even if we will see eachother again.

Though both of us hope we will.