Fallen [Wattys 2016]

Prologue

Prologue

Night covered the Lilith Manor, wispy thin clouds caressed the full moon and the stars splattered the sky like fresh paint thrown towards a canvas. The flicker of candlelight was warm as each child was hurried off to their bed chambers. The howling wind outside of Alice's home filled her ears, it left something to be desired. She monotonously said a simple good night to her brother and their maid servant Maddiee, and crawled into bed with an air of reluctance.

She covered her small body with a thick warm blanket as she laid in her bed. Within the one hour that sleep took her she tossed and turned. Thoughts swelled up like a storm, swirling through her unconsciousness. Sweat formed like beads on her forehead. Halfway through the night she sensed a presence, her eyes opened and she sat up when down below her bed there was a soft meow of a cat. She instantly recognized him. "Hi Carlisle" she smiled stiffly running her forearm across her forehead. She patted a spot on the bed near her feet and the cat answered with a meow and pounced noiselessly onto the spot and sat. She scratched between the cats ears, he offered a rumbling purr and licked his paw.

Gently she picked him up from his spot and laid him across her lap, but the white cat struggled against her grip and escaped. Quickly jumping off from the foot of her bed and onto the floor and danced towards her door.

Alice picked up the candle holder that sat on her nightstand and crawled out of her bed. Her feet touched the floor and it almost felt like ice. Still, she followed the cat toward the threshold, her night gown white against the night, billowing around her legs.

She trusted his green eyes, the color of emeralds unlike any other cat she's seen. And unlike any other cat this one chose her. She followed him further into the manor, they crept quietly through the halls where their shadows danced on the walls all the way to the main balcony.

Shadows cascaded from the moonlight and the trees. There was a chill of the wind but the cold didn't bother her, nothing did anymore an overwhelming sense of numbness settled over her like always, when carlisle was there. Darkness loomed across her face and Carlisle watched as she walked towards the edge of the balcony setting the candle holder on the ledge and looked down, then she turned to meet his eyes again.

"Until I see you again, Carlisle. " she smiled and tears welled her eyes, she whispered. "Thank you." Then she climbed over the railing and jumped.

The impact of the ground knocked the last breath she took from her seven year old body. Blood stained her white night gown. For some reason she felt nothing. She was still numb when death took her, and filled her empty void. She smiled bigger than ever before, finally feeling at peace with herself and who she was. "I didn't choose to be like this..."
the thought left her mind it carried through the wind and disappeared into the night as her heart stopped.

It felt like a nightmare when her mother found Alice in the morning, a nightmare that was all too real. pain for her little girl filled her heart, she refused to leave Alice's side and insisted they had a quick and quiet burial.

The day of her funeral, Alice's body went missing. A mystery that nobody could solve, but her mother had her superstitions. She stood one evening over her daughter's grave. The ceremony was a closed casket of course, she left a bouquet of roses on her tombstone.

When she looked down she recognized a pair emerald green eyes, realisation struck her. Through hysteria and stress she knew who it was, she saw through his disguise. "You! You...did this!" Her words were sharp and tears fell from her eyes.

The smile that was on his face would haunt her forever. Joy filled him because, after all Alice was worth more than what she had. Death would only make her richer in life.