CHAPTER ONE
memories of a time long gone
I never thought I'd return here.
The small northern town in England, half an hour away from the border to Scotland. A small, green place I'd once called home. It didn't feel like that anymore- it hadn't since I'd left.
It felt as if so much had changed, and yet at the same time, nothing at all. The roads were properly paved, accommodating the old cars that lined the small streets. Those once had been no more than dust paths, driven on by only the wealthiest of villagers. Walking through the main square, it was as if no time had passed at all. Each building stood the same, the only differences being in the name and printing of the small wooden posts that advertised each cafe or shop that hid inside the old walls.
I almost expected to turn the corner on the last lane and look out upon my mother walking back from the well, dress hikes up past her ankles, a bucket of water resting on her hip. I blinked my eyes, startled at the emptiness of the field, when Thomas should have been waiting down by the old farmer's fence, ready to throw me over the broken beam so we could escape into the town over for the fair.
At first, as I stopped by the edge of the untouched field, feet crunching in the snow, Alice kept her distance. But then, as I clenched my fists by my side, she stepped forward, spreading her hands through my fingers, forcing them open, the coolness of her skin comforting. She didn't say anything but her eyes were inviting. Talk if you want, if you're ready.
But she already knew all of it, each horrific moment of when I'd been turned, discarded bloody on the street to fend for myself during the changing. Somehow, for some miraculous reason, I'd done it- forced myself through the pain, the thirst, for no other reason than spite and pure, untainted hatred to he who bit me. She knew of each feeling I held toward him, of how I'd escaped, where I'd went afterwards. It was her family, after all, that'd helped take him down when he'd worked with Victoria. But it was I, who'd ended William for good. And yet Alice didn't know of the happiness this town had once brought me.
Her head leaned against my shoulder, arms wrapped around my waist as if she was scared I would either crumple or flee under the pressure. Had I returned years ago, I might've. But Alice was here now. She was my home. My comfort.
"I did love this place," I said after a while, noticing the melted snow that'd soaked through our shoes.
"I'm sure you did," she said sitting against the old stone wall, lifting her dainty feet. "It's peaceful."
"We always knew how to break the peace."
"Thomas..." she said, trailing off. She still didn't like to mention William.
I nodded. "We used to play a game, hopping over the farmer's fence, testing how quickly and how far we could run before the horses started chasing us. There was always this one mare who would chase the hardest, running rings until we had to throw ourselves into the brambles at the bottom of the field," I said, and she laughed at the thought of the memory. It probably made her think of her own brothers. "Thomas would get in trouble more than I ever did. He liked the girls- and the boys, but that was more secret. We were both good at keeping those secrets."
I felt Alice's hand slide further up my bare arm, tracing small shapes against my skin. She smiled softly.
"At least you don't have to keep those secrets anymore," she said, voice like a hum against my neck.
"You're right," I said, eyes fluttering closed. "He would have loved it. The freedom. The lack of hiding."
Ironic, given the meagre gifts immortality had granted me.
"He liked to draw too. He was going to be a famous painter in London. It was easier to get away with things there."
I thought of the drawing I'd kept after all these years. Dark charcoal had smudged, but even still, I'd always known the lines that formed had never resembled me truly. Thomas had always seen me in a different light to everyone. The cold colour of my skin was powerful, the limp hair dark and defining. It didn't matter that I loved girls as a man did, or that I would never marry. To him, I was as I appeared on that paper: someone worth looking at.
Only Alice had ever seen me like he did, and even with her, it was as if those feeling were magnified by the reflection of a thousand diamonds. There were times when I could not take my eyes from her and her eyes from mine. Just like now.
I would have wanted him to paint her as I saw her. The softest of souls, as radiant as the sun, dispersing my clouds. With a subject like Alice, the painting would have been worth millions.
But that drawing I kept- I hadn't looked at it since I first moved to Forks. I hadn't needed to. I no longer found inklings of comforts in the past. Alice was enough to last me a thousand lifetimes.
She asked me to tell more stories, so I did. I told her of the time a boy had asked me out and I'd pretended to speak only French, forgetting all of the fact that I'd shared a tiny classroom with him for all of eight years, until Tommy had burst out laughing on our way home. She laughed along at the memory of when we'd first gotten drunk at the age of thirteen, hiding behind the tables in the only pub in the village as the rest of the inhabitants spilled onto the street for some celebration I couldn't remember.
She grew solemn at one point, no doubt thinking of the lack of memories she could contribute. It was that, which made me think of all the bad things that'd happened in the village. I kept those quiet too- no matter how much the thoughts echoed in my head then.
How many years had it been since those days? More than one hundred years, and yet I could remember them as well as if they were yesterday. Each detail, each tiny element was painted finely within my memory, as if it was sitting under a magnifying glass, made as clear as a summer's day.
I remembered the soft sweep of snow, dusted across the frosty grass, frozen into long stalks that crunched beneath footsteps. Fallen leaves gave extra padding, but even the quietest of movements were followed by the crackling of ice. There was a small robin, hopping along the coated branches with a pretty song that seemed louder as it bounced against the distant wells of the valley that lay just out of reach from the village. Its breast was so stark against the whiteness of the landscape; a brilliant red, like the young flushes of cold-bitten cheeks.
I remembered the slumber the countryside was lulled under, the human silence that lasted all the way from the bottom of the field up to scarfell hill. The lowering of the cool, winter sun, highlighting the low dips of the mounds of earth for miles. Even the fragrance of the air stuck with me: the freshness of snow and the grass that lay beneath it.
I remembered all of those things now, each beautiful feature, and yet, as I lay in the snow, all those years ago, it was not the red of the robin's breast nor the nipping pain of the cold that I noticed and admired. No, it was the red of my own blood, spilled by the brother of my best friend and replaced for the icy venom that coursed through his own dead veins.
No.
Alice seemed to sense the thoughts. Her hands moved to sit on either side of my face, her body smoothly following to stand in front of me. She was short enough that she had to look up, but tall enough that her hair blocked my view of the field as she rose onto the tips of her toes.
"Are you ready?" She asked, and the way she looked at me then, it was as if her words held other meanings. I didn't ask, only nodded.
Her thumb smoothed across my cheek, a motion that, in another lifetime, might've wiped away wet tears. She smiled again- Alice was always smiling- and moved a hand to grip mine, pulling me forward until we were running, shaking the remnants of snow from our feet. She was laughing then, the sound travelling faster than the wind, a sound as soft as birdsong. And to London we went.
Our time in the big city had to be kept to a minimum, before the rest of the Cullens made their way in search of their friends. According to Alice, they would go to the Denali's in Alaska first, testing their argument before heading to France and eventually onto England and Ireland. We had little less than a month to complete our own task: finding a way to convince the Volturi to back down, all while keeping Alice at a safe enough distance- one that only in the luckiest of instances would have kept the council away. The Cullens had the same timescale to find their witnesses, friends from all around the world that would testify to Renesmee's nature.
There was something Alice wasn't telling me though. I could tell from her hesitancy each time her hand found mind or her eyes flickered my way- as if she didn't want to look at me, as if doing so under her knowledge was traitorous.
It was in London, too, that I found out what she was hiding.
"Do you remember what Aro said when we were in Volterra?" Alice asked as we came to a short alleyway, her back leaning against the brick wall, face turned away from the harsh lamplight.
"I remember everything about that trip," I said, not quite sure where she was leading the conversation.
"He said there was more to your gifts."
"Why bring this up now? Did you see something?"
"Yes," she said shortly, eyes staring at me intently. "I want you to try for me."
"To try what?"
"To extend your powers."
I shook my head. "I don't know what you mean."
"Just try."
The blankness on her face left no room for arguments. She stood me directly in front of her, arms guiding me close and remaining there as she made me try to do something. It was the difficulty of not knowing what to do, that tripped me. I closed my eyes, as Alice would sometimes when using her own gift, and put all efforts in. I could feel the straining in my forehead, only to open my eyes again, feeling the lack of change.
"I don't know what I'm doing, Alice," I said, unable to stop the slight whine in my voice. "I've been like this for more than a hundred years, don't you think I'd know if I could do something even remotely interesting?"
"You've never tried!" Alice said, removing her hands from my arms, rolling her eyes playfully. "Weren't you even a little bit curious after Aro said that? Never mind, come on, we'll be late."
Alice lead us through the dark streets, sighing as the light patter of rain began to bounce against the pavement. She stopped at the very edge of a long street by the centre, ducking beneath the shelter that lead toward the underground. With her arms crossed, she leaned against the wall again, waiting for something she didn't care to explain.
Alice had seen it long before I'd sensed it. She pushed us forward, sliding from the swift attack of someone from above. Her calmness was nerving, as she stepped around the man, putting herself in line of his inhuman strength and speed. It was then, I realised that she'd seen more than just his initial attack. She was testing me.
The boy went to pounce, only to be met at his side with a kick of my leg. Alice moved into his way again, hands softly placed behind her back, not a single inch of panic showing on her face. Each time he moved, she moved, only begging for him to hit her. The only thing stopping the man from making contact, was me.
I gave in this time. Eyes closed, I reached out for her, an iron grip taking her arm. The vampire went for her again, leaping like a tiger, only to fall short at the last minute.
His target no longer stood in front of him.
Eyes opened to see Alice beaming across at me, as if she'd never doubted my ability at all. There was a soft mist surrounding us, like the shimmer of her skin in sunlight. It was harsh against the darkness, so obvious that I expected the man to turn and jump upon us again. But his back was turned away from us, and realisation settled in.
This was what Alice had wanted me to do. What Aro had guessed I could do. To render us invisible.
In shock, I let go of her, the heavy mist dropping like ash and melting away upon the floor like snow. The head of the vampire turned quickly, desperately, dusty white hair flicking from his face, and it was only then that I saw the amber eyes that pierced from beneath a dark brow. Amber eyes that I once would have recognise to be blue.
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I'm not sure if I like this yet, I may go back and change it later on, but for now, here we are! What do you think?