01
Twilight
H e r C l o c k w o r k H e a r t
THE MANY NOTES OF the falling rain were all in tune as the clouds wept away their sudden sorrows. Water droplets, sweet and mellow, cunningly raced down the glass walls of the lavish room in which Adele Cullen sat in. Tears silently pooled in her golden eyes like clouds as they condensed, all until they could no longer bear the load and began to fall, cascading down her porcelain cheeks as the storm of sadness struck. It had become a race to see which could fall faster and as they fell, fell, fell, it was clear the rain would win. The tears that disobediently leaked from Adele's eyes were so heavy with past burdens, they were slowest.
Now, one must understand this: Adele Cullen was not always like this. Behind every being, their is a always a story unique to them. Do not judge her story by the chapter you walked in on, for it is not the very first, and it is surely not the last. The raw truth and tale is to be uncovered here, and so is the story of how she cried, she screamed, she fought, and she lost....all until she made everything around her beautiful.
And made it her life.
It was the new year of 2014 and winter had not yet passed. Adele Cullen stood from where she had set herself down at the edge of her bed and gripped the cold doorknob to the doors that led out onto her deck. The muggy air and misty wisps of fog kissed the bare skin of her arms and legs as she walked out. The world always became softly blurred in the rain and she always felt like she could melt right into it. Adele never could let her emotions cataract out of her, into the chaotic waterfall they yearned for, out of fear that she would drown her loved ones in the depths of it.
Her dreams pulled her back into a world that she had long ago tried to bury in the gaps of time, for the memories entailed with it snuffed the light out of her immortal life and dragged her into the all-too-familiar darkness she had loathed since she was the six-year-old girl hiding in a chest while her mother was murdered. She was good at hiding it all behind her golden eyes and along with them, a small smile.
Adele climbed over the fencing of the deck and looked down at the one story drop and gracefully, she landed, her bare feet meeting the dewy grass. She ran past the tree line and into the depths of the woods, where the trees were left bare from the colder season. The Cullen girl braces off the trees as she ran, reaching higher and higher until she was at the sturdiest peak of a towering tree, overlooking the brightening sky. Just as she saw the sun peeking over the trees and mountains in the far distance, the branches rustled behind her and Edward Cullen was sitting beside her, the tips of his bronze hair shining in the light.
"Are you alright?" He questioned her.
"I am fine."
"Sure you are." He gave her a look.
She glanced at him, "It is too early for this, Edward Masen. I will push you off of this damn branch."
He shrugged and changed the subject, "Alice had a new vision for today. She said today will be the day that everything as we know it will change, whatever that means."
"How vague."
"Well, I didn't get much else before she began singing nursery rhymes."
"Good to know she listens to me." she smirked and he rolled his eyes.
"We should get ready for school." He said, "It starts soon."
"I will be there in a few minutes."
He nodded and hopped off of the branch, falling all the way down until he landed gracefully on his feet below. Adele stared back at the horizon, taking Alice's visions lightly, as she usually did. She always got her hopes up, only for them to be crushed. However, unbeknownst to Adele, Alice was right this time: everything was about to change.
And so the story begins...
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In the mist after the rainfall, so thick and settling, the Cullens walked towards the entrance of the grand cafeteria of Forks High School where the rest of the normal human students lounged and ate. Alice and Jasper Cullen opened the doors and entered first, followed by Rosalie and Emmett Cullen. Many of the students turned their heads to watch the graceful and devastatingly beautiful Cullens pass by their tables - it was a normal affair. They walked towards the back of the cafeteria where their usual table remained unoccupied for their use.
Edward and Adele tailed their other adoptive siblings as the last two of the lot to enter with unexplainable grace. They had not reached the table yet when Adele heard Edward's curious thoughts, all directed towards an unfamiliar human girl seated a little ways away. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked away from her, realizing she was the one human in the room who's thoughts he was unable to read. The girl was pretty enough; dark brown hair outlined a pretty face and made her oddly pale complexion stand out. Her brown eyes curiously examined the mesmerizing Cullens and she turned to question her friends about them.
Can you read her mind? Edward thought, counting on Adele to hear it. She nodded. Although the edges of her mind were blurred, she pushed through the blurriness and found a whirlwind of thoughts all revolving around the charming Edward Cullen. As they set themselves down at the table, Adele and Edward made it their business to listen in on the human girl's conversation with the other students sitting around her.
"Who are they?" the brunette, Isabella Swan, inquired.
"The Cullens." the captain of the volleyball team and popular girl, Jessica Stanley, responded with an envious glance at the family. "They're Dr. Cullen's and Mrs. Cullen's foster kids. They all moved down here from Alaska two years ago."
The school a student photographer, Angela, chimed in as she cleaned her camera lens with a cloth, "They kind of keep to themselves-"
"-Because they're all together - like - together together." Jessica exclaimed, "The blonde girl on the left, Rosalie, and the big dark-haired guy, Emmett - they're a thing. I'm not even sure that's legal."
Rosalie was beautiful; long, thick blonde hair, plump lips and long eyelashes accompanied her golden irises. Emmett was attractive in a burly, muscular sort of way - with the strong build of a bear, he stood at six-foot-two with short dark hair and angular features.
"Jess, they're not actually related." Angela pointed out, staring dreamily at honey-haired Jasper Cullen.
"But they live together." Jessica turned back to Bella, "And the little dark haired girl, Alice - she's really weird - she's with Jasper, the blonde who looks like he's in pain."
Bella's eyes fell upon Jasper, the skinny, tall guy with honey-blonde locks that brushed shading his jawline and he draped his arm over Alice, a tiny, black-haired girl with the pixie-haircut. They seemed like a cute couple and Bella didn't see any harm in that.
"I mean, Dr. Cullen's like this foster dad slash match maker." said Jessica as she pushed her salad away.
Angela chuckled, placing her camera back in its case, "Maybe he'll adopt me."
"And who's he?" Bella queried as her eyes landed upon Edward's bronze hair, muscular build and sharp features. He looked away inconspicuously as they all gazed at him like a great big jewel in a showcase. Adele rolled an apple over in her hands, smirking at her brother as she read their scandalous thoughts regarding Edward.
"That's Edward Cullen." Edward took that as a cue to look over and his golden eyes met Bella's chocolate ones. As she gazed curiously into his, Adele watched him try to break through the blurred barriers of her mind, but his attempts worked to no avail. "He's totally gorgeous, obviously. But apparently, no one here is good enough for him." continued Jessica. Similarly to every other girl in their high school, she wanted Edward Cullen and she did a lousy job at denying it. "Like I care. Anyway, don't waste your time."
"I wasn't planning on it." Bella chuckled and then her eyes landed flickered over to Adele, who refused to look their way. Even Bella could sense the authority and wisdom as it radiated off of her. "And her?"
"Oh, that's Adele Cullen." Angela chimed in as she gazed enviously at the blonde beauty. There wasn't a single soul in Forks that didn't wish to be like the Cullens. "She's the only one of them that's actually Dr. Cullen's biological kid. She's beautiful, isn't she?"
As Adele occupied Edward to keep him from drawing more attention to themselves, her light blonde ringlets spilled over her back and bounced with every movement she made. She arose with Alice to walk towards the vending machines on the opposite side of the cafeteria.
"Very." said Bella and mustering up all of the courage she had, she stood up and pulled a dollar from the pocket of jeans. As Alice and Adele reached the vending machines and the pixie bought a mineral water, Bella walked up the the vending machine beside them and pulled out a wrinkly dollar. Adele took her ice-cold water just as Bella grabbed hers and began to walk away again.
In her clumsiness, Bella tripped over her own two feet and went spiraling to the ground. She was doomed - doomed to be forever known at the clumsy girl humiliated right there in front of the most beautiful people she had ever seen. Her water flew out of her hands, bursted open on impact and just before she thought it could get any worse, a hand grabbed her wrist and kept her from hitting to floor. It was a sight to see when Adele Cullen held out her other hand and helped the clumsy Bella to her feet as she flushed pink.
"T-Thanks." Bella sputtered, staring into her piercing golden eyes. "You just saved me from two years of torment and humiliation."
Her lips curved into a small smile and she gave Bella her water, "To replace yours." and before Bella could utter a thank you, Adele and Alice were walking back to their table. Alice gave her sister a furtive look - when she said today would be the day that everything changed, she was right. And the awkward, shy human girl had something to do with it.
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A few days passed since Adele and Edward Cullen went to school, meanwhile the other four attended as usual. Edward couldn't stand the new girl, Bella Swan. Her scent was so sweet-smelling, so attractive, that in all his years of being a vampire, he never felt so tempted to drink the blood of a human. The entire Cullen clan drank the blood of animals that lived in the woods around their house because they refused to harm humans. It was why their eyes are a liquid gold color instead of a crimson color the vampires who drink the blood of humans have. To drink animal blood solely was Carlisle Cullen's one rule.
Adele stayed home because she needed her sleep - see, when she was a young child, she and her father were attacked. She was bitten by a vampire, but Carlisle sucked out most venom in time so the process in changing her would slow down. She stopped aging at seventeen when the venom finally caught up to her heart and took over. For some odd reason, she still slumbered at night every once in a while like a normal human would - but she wished to the high heavens that she didn't, for her slumber as plagued by horrible memories.
When she returned the following Thursday, all was calm and uneventful until the day was completed and she could hear Edward's screaming thoughts as he stalked down the hallways. Within seconds, she knew what happened in his biology class and in the moments after in the hallway when he took the risk of speaking to Bella Swan. He discovered a lot about her, but but it all ended in her noticing how his eyes had changed from black the other day - from days of not feeding - to their usual golden color. He answered quickly and left abruptly.
"How subtle of you, Edward." She said in a mocking tone making him glare at her, "You're conspicuousness will only cause her curiosity to grow."
"Is that such a bad thing?"
The rain which poured non-stop all day finally stopped moments before dismissal, but left parking lot full of big puddles and slippery patches of solid ice from the cold weather - they needed to fix those pot holes.
"Curiosity killed the cat." Once again, Adele followed Edward's gaze to a shivering Bella Swan as walked over to her red pick-up truck. In her hand, she held the golden onion they won in biology class for completing the assignment correctly. As she reached her truck, and threw her bag into the front seat, she walked around and leaned against the back, pulling her iPod out to pass the time as she waited for her friends. She spared Edward a glance as he walked to his car on the other side of the lot.
Adele turned to her other siblings as they lounged around Emmett's sleek black car, watching the two in disapproval. Bella Swan was a human, a threat to their kind if she ever found out about what they really were.
"That human is going to cause us trouble with the Volturi." Rosalie scowled at Bella.The Volturi were royalty in the vampire world. They set the laws and boundaries for their kind and punished those who didn't abide by them. "He shouldn't associate with her."
"He can't help it, Rose." Adele sighed, leaning against the car. The cold air nipped at her porcelain skin and she brushed a ringlet of hair behind her ear. She had seen that look before; that dreamy look someone of their kind gets when they fall deeply, madly in love with someone as they feel a pull between them. She had the privilege of experiencing it once in her life. "Can't you see? She's his mate. He's in love with her."
"It's dangerous." Jasper said gravely.
"Love always is."
Fate decided to prove this so because a moment after Adele said that, a high-pitched screech sounded from the other side of the lot and grew louder as the haywire car zipped across the lot, slipping on the block ice.
"Damn, you, Jasper Cullen! I swear, you fucking jinxed it!" Her comment would have been funny where those not the unfortunate circumstances. Bella whirred to see the huge black van skidding on the block ice. It spiraled out of control without any traction on the ice. So there it was, heading directly for her and her heart leapt into her throat. It was as if time slowed down and the Cullens watched as Edward leapt into action, moving between Bella and the oncoming van. Everyone turned as their dulled human senses finally noticed the van about to crush a girl to death. The driver of the van, a friend of Bella, desperately tried to regain control but then shielded his face with his arm when he knew it would not happen and instead waited for miserable impact.
Edward looked at Bella horrifically as he knocked her down and stopped it with his own bare hand. Bella did not see him stop it but there was as large dent where his hand was, making it look like another car crashed into the passenger door. When the crash did not come, she looked up in mute shock and he stared at her. He stared at her and she stared at him and there was nothing but them amid that silent chaos. He didn't even know her and he risked his secret to save her. As a oncoming crowd of witnesses ran over to see if she was okay, Edward leapt over the van, but no one paid attention to him.
Bella propped herself up on her elbows in between the two cars and stared at the dent Edward had made wide eyes. Some students were on their cell phones and others were climbing over the car to check on her. Mike and Eric were kneeling in front of her beside Jessica and Angela.
"Are you okay?"Mike asked, checking her over. She had a small gash on her head that was bleeding profusely. "What happened!?"
"Did anyone else get hurt?!" questioned Eric.
"Bella?!" Tyler panicked, sticking his head out of the window where they could all see a large cut down the side of his face, "Bella! Bella, I am so sorry! I couldn't control it-"
Adele sighed as he ran into the passenger's seat of Edward's car. Their siblings showed no concern for his safety or well being but instead shared looks of disapproval as they climbed into their own cars and left the lot. He could have exposed them all. Adele took one last glance at Bella Swan as she watched them exit the parking lot in a whir.
"You did the right thing, Edward." Adele reassured him as they drove to the hospital where Carlisle worked. Bella would be their soon enough and they needed to reach Carlisle before then. "She would have been killed if you didn't save her."
She was the oldest of all of the Cullen children because she was turned after Carlisle, who started the coven. In three and a half centuries of life, Adele had seen a lot of shit, so getting reassurance or advice from her meant she truly believed what she was saying was right. It should have comforted and consoled Edward that she agreed with his actions, but it did not.
"Yeah," he picked up the speed with darkened eyes, "And now I may have risked our secret!"
Adele wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that Bella Swan discovering their secret was inevitable because she was his mate and they were destined to be together. But instead, "Our secret is safe, Edward. If I would have thought otherwise, I would not be trying to console you at all right now. Besides, even if she does suspect something, we can easily convince her otherwise."
Edward's grip on the steering wheel tightened and his knuckles turned purple. Within minutes they were in front of Forks hospital. They arrived just before Rosalie and Emmett; she guessed Alice and Jasper went home. From his office, he heard his children calling from him half-way across the hospital and rushed to meet them. Edward and Rosalie explained what happened sparing no details.
"What do we do, Carlisle?" asked Rosalie, running a hand through her hair as he lead them into a mostly empty private waiting room. "She may suspect! She could find out-"
"Rose, calm down." Carlisle Cullen looked exactly as he did three and a half centuries ago - short, sleek blonde hair, a skinny build and a calm, authoritative voice.
Rose was about to continue to rant about Edward's carelessness and Emmett joined in, complaint about the possibility of having to move again, when Adele finally spoke her thoughts, "Edward, she hit her head, right?" When Edward nodded, "Alright then, Dad, play it off as a minor concussion with symptoms of post traumatic stress or short-term memory loss. And Edward - we know that either way she'll suspect something of us, but you don't have to tell her. Play it off as if she was hallucinating or make an excuse that it was an adrenaline rush."
She knew it was a stupid excuse but if it came down to the Volturi, they might be able to get by on a technicality. If the human found out on her own...
Carlisle nodded in approval of the idea and Rosalie reluctantly nodded in agreement; it was better than anything else they could come up with in the spur of the moment. Bella entered the hospital through the emergency entrance on a gurney wheeled in by two paramedics. Carlisle kissed Adele on the forehead and rushed off into the pit to care for Bella's injuries.
"Edward, not only was that dangerous, but it was senseless!" scolded Rosalie. "Don't you agree, Adele?"
Rose turned to her for her opinion as Adele crossed her arms, watching the one-sided conversation between her two siblings. She looked between Rosalie and Edward who had also turned to her, "I don't think either of you would like my answer."
Rosalie scoffed and turned on Edward again, "We can't risk her finding out about us, Edward."
"I had no choice, Rose!" he exclaimed in a hushed voice as a pair of teenagers passed by, "What was I supposed to do!? Let her die?"
Rosalie pursed her lips and remained silent but the malicious look in her eyes told them her answer was yes. A tense silence fell over them and Adele was thankful that she didn't have to hear her sister's annoying ranting any longer.
A few moments later, Carlisle returned and told them that Bella did, in fact, have a minor concussion so covering up the situation was easy. Carlisle pulled Rosalie and Edward to the side as Police Chief Charlie Swan and Bella exited the emergency room. Adele, who no longer interested in the bickering between Edward and Rosalie (with Carlisle trying to console the two) paid attention to the short conversation between the father and daughter.
"I just have to sign some paperwork." Charlie said awkwardly. He look at his daughter with all of the love in the world but his words came out in awkward sputters. "You better call your mom."
"You told her?" she groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, "She's probably freaking out."
He shrugged and hurried off- clearly he'd rather fill out mountains or paperwork rather than make the call to his ex-wife himself. Bella shook her head, pulled out her cell phone and was about to dial her mother when she noticed the four Cullens.
"This isn't just about you, it's about all of us--"
"Dear God, Rose, shut up!" hissed Adele.
"Let's take this into my office." Carlisle played it off. Rosalie glared at Edward one last time before she followed Adele and Carlisle down the hallway. Adele tapped into Edward's mind as Bella approached him.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?" He nodded briefly and met her halfway Then, in a hushed voice, "How did you get over to me so quickly back there?"
Edward tried to lie convincingly, "I was standing right next to you."
She shook her head, "No, you were next to your car, across the lot."
Edward inched closer to her and towered over her. His mood changed on a flip of a coin and suddenly, he grew cold and reserved, "No, I wasn't."
In her attempts to show him that she wasn't intimidated, she stepped closer to him so that they were only a foot away from each other. Bella was determined to get answers - she just didn't know how horrifying the truth behind the answers was. "Yes you were."
"You're confused. You hit your head."
She scoffed, "I know what I saw."
"And what exactly was that?" he was losing his convincing manner now and only looked as if he dreaded her answer.
"You stopped that van. You pushed it away-"
"-No one will believe that."
"I wasn't planning on telling anyone." She fired back. The chemistry going on between them was hard to miss and Adele sensed that Edward really took what she had just said into account. Their faces were inches away from each other and he could feel Bella's warm breath on his cold porcelain skin. Don't act on it. Walk away. This can't happen.
"I just want to know the truth."
"Can't you just thank me and get over it?" he spat.
"Thank you." she snapped.
His eyes flickered to the bandaged covering the wound on his head, "You're not going to give up, are you?"
She shook her head, "No."
"Well then," he clenched his fists and glared at her, "Prepare to be disappointed." and he stormed off and human was not only stubborn, but she was persistent and determined enough to piss Edward off within seconds. Adele knew it was only a matter of time before she figured out their vital secret - and there was never a secret that time did not reveal.