The Beginning of Forever - A Twilight Fan Fiction

Chapter Two

In Memory of

Charlie Swan,

1964 - 2036, aged 72.

Beloved Father and Husband

A man who was always looking.

Also Sue Uley Swan,

1966 - 2037, aged 71.

Beloved Wife, Mother and

Grandma,

Who was right beside him.

I drop to my knees as the words I read set in. Charlie remarried, and is now here, buried with wife. I understand the reference to their 'looking' - there was another reference on the headstone dedicated to me. I feel my dead heart break for him again.

My memories as a vampire are much clearer and easily remembered than my human memories - perfect recall and the ability to think several things at once turned out to be another advantage of this life. I think back to when I had first fed, and the ache in my throat had been tamed. My first thought was of Charlie.

I'd looked at the fishermen, broken and pale, still in their fishing gear. They could so easily have been Charlie, someone else's father. And I'd killed them. I knew there was no going back now - there was a risk I'd be seen, and I knew that it would be easier for Charlie to accept I was dead than it was for him to know I was undead.

I ran to the nearest clothing store I could find and changed into a cotton shirt and soft, faded jeans. I burned my blood stained clothes and stole a backpack, as well as several books to keep myself occupied. I traveled around the world hiding in the luggage areas of planes and ships.

I'd pop into internet cafes from time to time to keep myself updated on my current status back in Forks for the next two years. I saw my face in the New York Times about sixty years ago - some serial killer had been caught and had confessed to killing teenage girls in the Washington area, so there was a feature on unsolved cases. Me included.

After I'd run from Washington I'd vowed to refrain from drinking the blood of people that would be missed. There was a huge write-up about those fishermen who I'd drunk - the police, seeing the damage I'd done to the cabin, had assumed an animal attack. I'd gotten a bit carried away when discovering my strength, and had almost knocked the house down.

I'm still sat in the cemetery when I hear a faint creak. I leap to my feet, and look around. I can smell something. I weave through the rows of headstones, absorbing the smell as I come closer to the exit, when a swift movement catches my eye.

I turn around quickly, and a flash of gold gets my attention. I stand defensively, and a voice startles me.

'Bella.' I tense. No-one has said my name in eight decades. I look for the intruder. A tall figure drops in front of me.

'I hope you know my family and I have been keeping an eye out for you since you disappeared.'

I growl at this man, who I know must be a vampire - no human could move as fast as he did when I reached the iron gate.

He's in the darkness, but I can still see his features. His hair is tousled and untidy, and has an odd bronze colour to it. He is tall and lanky, but the t-shirt he is wearing shows that he is muscular. His jaw is squared, and even though I know vampires are all beautiful, this man - or boy, as his facial features suggest he cannot be physically older than eighteen - this boy is more extraordinarily beautiful than most vampires I've come across.

He's wearing an expression of utmost confusion on his face. I frown at him, and I realise something - his eyes are the colour of butterscotch, not red or black.

I hiss at this abnormality, and this boy tenses at me. He growls, and I straighten up. He is more threatening than I am, as well as him having kept 'an eye on me.' This could possibly have given him an advantage over me, plus.. How on earth do you even kill another vampire? Perhaps he knows. I can't allow him to use that knowledge on me.

I do not relax, and I narrow my eyes. 'Step into the light, please.'

My voice, despite being unused for almost fifteen years, is still as clear and harmonious as it was when I last used it. It took me a while to get used to that - I hadn't enjoyed it one bit. It wasn't like me at all. I'd spent years looking to find some sort of familiarity in this life, and I was always relieved when I found one.

The boy gave me another confused look, and stepped forward. It was quite a clear night, and the moon made the boy's skin even paler.

'Who are you?' I say, still defensive.

'My name is Edward Cullen. I know who you are, Bella, and my family and I have been waiting a long time to meet you.'

Edward Cullen. Edward.. Cullen.

Oh shit.