Melina Caruso carried a secret in her veins - a blood that was both a blessing and a curse. When her unique gift attracted the attention of the hidden world of the Immortals, a game of power and passion began that would change Melina's life forever...
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Peace attracts life; restlessness scares it away.
Gottfried Keller (1819-1890)
I curved my mouth into a small, grateful smile as I accepted the food I had been given from the lady serving me: a bagel spread with cream cheese and a bottle of mineral water.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed two girls near the food queue, lowering the volume of their previous conversation and looking intently in Erik's and my direction. They were presumably hoping to learn more useful information and add to their collection of picked-up knowledge about the "new foreign girl" and then pass it on to their respective friends.
A deep breath escaped me, and I tried to skillfully ignore their stares as Erik led me to the cafeteria's centre under the other students' continuous scrutiny. Our shoes squeaked softly under the shiny grey floor as we tried to avoid the other oncoming or standing classmates and finally stopped at a half-empty round wooden table.
I smiled shyly at the girls and boys sitting scattered around when Erik pulled out a chair for me to sit on with an unforeseen, exaggerated gesture and let me sit next to him.
"Thanks." I just said awkwardly and with my head down before quickly pulling the chair to the table without looking for Erik's help.
"You're...Melina, right?" asked a male voice next to me, and I looked up, nodding.
"Hey... I'm Mike. Mike Newton." the boy introduced himself to me with a request to shake hands. His short blonde hair glistened under the artificial light of the canteen and competed with the sparkle of his bright blue eyes, which looked at me excitedly. His mouth, twisted in a friendly smile, resembled Erik's grimace and emphasized the breadth of his round yet handsome face.
I took his outstretched hand and shook it unobtrusively.
"Hey, Mikey. Have...have you met my girlfriend Melina yet?" Erik's energetic-sounding voice severed the handy connection between us, and a feigned smile appeared on Mike's lips as his slowly darkening eyes turned to the Asian.
"Oh...your girlfriend, yeah?" he asked almost provocatively, making me sink back into the chair's cold, hard plastic.
"My girlfriend," another male voice sounded close to my ear. The next moment, I felt the rough lips of a stranger on my cheek, causing me to startle frantically. My head turned and caught the curly mop of hair of an African-American boy who, with a sneaky grin, roughly pushed the chair of the blond apparent athlete aside. Fortunately, Mike's quick reflexes prevented him from falling to the floor in time.
"Sorry...did I ruin your day, Mike?" the dark-skinned boy asked with a laugh and sprinted out of the cafeteria, closely followed by an angry red-faced Mike.
"Are you crazy?" the blonde boy behind me shouted in bewilderment, and the laughter of the onlooking students followed them mercilessly.
"Oh, my God. It's like first grade all over again. And you're the beautiful new toy," a brown-haired girl laughed and moved her chair closer in my direction.
"Please...smile," said a black-haired girl who suddenly appeared at our table. The bright flash of her camera temporarily blinded my vision with black-and-white dots.
"Sorry, just a snapshot for the feature," the girl smiled apologetically and adjusted the bright frames of her glasses before sitting down at the table next to the brown-haired girl.
"What kind of feature?" I asked, my cheeks flushed and my eyes wide.
"Oh...Erik and I write for the school paper, and we thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce you properly to the other students," she explained. I knew she was obviously addressing the various rumors and speculations regarding my stay in Forks that had been inhabiting the town since my arrival and probably broke far unrealistic boundaries in her imagination.
Still with heated cheeks, I reached for the water bottle.
"Actually... there's not much worth mentioning...except that I'm originally from Italy and live with my aunt," I mumbled evasively and gave the black-haired girl a shy smile.
"My name is Angela, by the way." the black-haired girl quickly introduced herself and returned my smile gently and emotionally.
"I'm Jessica." The brown-haired girl in our midst broke our eye contact and smiled benevolently at me while her blue eyes twinkled conspiratorially.
"Very pleasant. I'm Melina." I replied quietly, and Jessica giggled again.
"Of course, your name has been on everyone's lips for several weeks now. New arrivals are a rarity in Forks..." she said, interrupting, and her narrowing eyes flickered away from me for a split second to a table away from the crowd.
Curious, I followed her gaze and froze slightly in my seat.
A group of five young people sat quietly away from each other, loudly laughing and talking in crowds, deliberately trying to avoid the attention of the other classmates. Their pale, pretty faces were turned away from the crowd, almost indifferently ignoring the jokes of those around them and remaining motionless on their chairs like life-size statues.
The full trays with varied food selections were untouched in their midst.
"Who's that?" I asked with a furrowed brow, pointing to the small gathering near the wall-high window front covered with blinds. Jessica and Angela noticed my gaze, and I noticed a hint of genuine anticipation flit across Jessica's pale face.
"The Cullens," Angela replied innocently. My eyes and thoughts widened at the name, and my head jerked back to the distant table. I began to frown as her outward appearance continued to penetrate my thoughts.
"These are Dr. and Mrs. Cullen's foster children," Jessica added, but her gossiping voice, similar to the volume of the canteen, seemed to fade into the background of my focus as my grey-blue eyes focused on the five pale figures.
My mouth opened silently, and I could subliminally feel how the delicate skin around my lips and mucous membranes hardened and dried out slightly due to the incoming air. A distinct feeling of coldness immediately gripped my body, and a sudden supply of heat suppressed it in equal measure.
Goosebumps and sweat formed simultaneously and seemed to fight for the dominance of my body, while the realization and its associated feelings ate more profoundly through my thoughts, leaving behind an image of horror.
