Just Breathe

Chapter one

The tv blares in the background while the scent of burning toast assaults my nose. I unplug the toaster and try to get the bread out, the lever moved loosely and uselessly.
"Shit." the burning sensation on my finger tips, the bread now laying beside the plate. Crumbs littering the area that once was clean. The cool water runs over my hands, soothing them as my mind focuses on what's on the tv.
The loud newsman tells them to stay in doors for there is going to be a big storm, and on cue a loud ground shaking thunder sounds through the apartment building. I'm snapped back to the still running water when it overflows the basin and onto my feet.
After turning off the water I sink to the ground, eyes closing and my body suddenly exhausted. I just wanted some toast. The cold water soaked into my soaks drains the warmth that was so thin causing me to bring my legs closer to my chest and my toes curl. The noise of the thundering sky drowns out all other sounds as the lights and tv shuts off leaving me in darkness, exhaustion and terror.

~

I didn't remember falling asleep and I most definitely didn't remember getting into bed. Though I could've sleepwalked to the bedroom. Was my bed ever this warm? It's so soft, too soft. My eyes shoot open at the sound of someone else's footsteps.
"Rachel, time to wake up." came the voice of a woman who I didn't recognize. Without taking time to look to see who it is I jump out of the bed, screaming all the way to the nearest door. I slam it shut, trying to lock it but there wasn't any. My back pushed against it as my heart hammers in my chest. This wasn't my apartment, I don't know who this person is. And yet she knows my name.
"Rachel?" the voice comes again, "Do you want me to get Bella?" Bella? A light switches on in the room, lighting up the clothes that reside within it. Only then do I realize how small I am, the hands that my head lay in are softer, arms no longer scared. What did that storm do?
"Ray?" This voice was younger, knocking lightly against the otherside, "did you have a nightmare again?" nightmare. Come to think of it, I haven't had one for a few nights. She pushed at the other side of the door, I let her in. Her brown hair and her large brown eyes sends a sense of familiarity through my mind, a sense of calming. She looks to be a preteen or a young teen.
She must have noticed how much I am confused as she sits down beside me, "you are Rachel." she said slowly.
"Yes." I say, it comes out as a whisper and my eyes continue to look around, landing on a long mirror that hangs on the back of the door. My hair is the same as her's, the only difference was mine has slight waves, those were the same as I've always had. The difference to my old life are the silver eyes that remind me of the stormy sky that sent me here.
"Rachel Swan." I look at her again and shake my head, "it's ok." She brings me into a hug and pats my head. Swan. Bella Swan.
"Shit." suddenly she pulls back and stares at me, oh right, she's a kid, "sorry."
She continues to stare at me with shock, "why am I here?" this snapped her out.
"Oh." She seemed to be debating what to say as she leans against the otherside of the small closet, "the doctors said she might have moments like this, it's fine." she whispered it low, maybe thinking I couldn't hear her.
"You are Rachel Swan. My cousin." I wait for more info, "your parents didn't make it." she says this so low.
Seems as though even in this universe I can't have my parents. I stand and leave the closet and look around the bedroom. The window is open, the pale blue curtains pulled to the sides to let the sun in, the hot air seeping in through the screen. Phoenix Arizona.
"How old are you?" I ask, still looking around the room. The bed in the left corner, the desk beside it near the window that looks out to the backyard, and then the closet where I stand at the opposite end right next to a chest.
"Fourteen, why?" Three years before the events of the story, if I remember correctly, haven't touched the books since I was that age.
"Just refreshing details." On top of the desk two journals lay side by side with a mechanical pencil. Three books, the only books that seem to be in the room, stand between a cup of pens and pencils and a stack of sticky notes. A lamp on the corner of the desk closest to the bedside. My fingers graze over the cover of one of the journals, the words "Just breath" printed in a pretty blue font against black. I sit, inside the first page of the journal reads,

Happy 13th birthday Ray. This is a gift from Mom and I to help you through living with us.

Bella and Renee.

A calendar above the desk tells me that this was only a few days ago. February 13th, I'll have to get used to having a different birthday. I flip through the journal, nothing written, the second one had a blue star constellation of Aquarius almost glowing against the black cover. This one was more of a sketchbook than a notebook, the two seeming to be a set, which has not been written in by "me".
The clock in front of the lamp shows it's very early in the morning, Bella comes back in, a school backpack hanging from her shoulder.
"Are you ready for school?" she asks, taking a look at me as I groan. A sigh escapes as I look at what I'm wearing, work out shorts and a shirt. I head into the closet and grab some jeans and a light jacket, throwing them on before grabbing the backpack that sits next to the desk hoping everything that I'd need will be in there. I stop and look at the journals, I snatch them up and shove them into the bag.

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Disclaimer
I do not own Twilight as that belongs to Stephenie Meyers, however, I own Rachel Swan, her story and any other characters/story lines that I put in.