Quinn O'Connell was the pretty girl in pink, the homecoming queen and all-around straight-A student. Most people saw her as uptight, narcissistic but most importantly... They saw her as a control freak with her perfect blonde hair and patronising sm...
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Quinn smiled over at Alice as the females of the Cullen household sat together at a picnic table in the garden, arranging the invitations for Bella and Edwards wedding. Each one was to be constructed according to Alice's strict guidelines but as Quinn wrote on an envelope in perfect neat cursive, she was glad for the distraction. The sun glared down into the garden and it was for that reason that all the Cullens were home for the first time in many weeks. Carlisle was sat on a bench not too far away, reading a book though he smiled gently at his fiancé each and every time she looked up to meet his eye.
Elsewhere; Jasper, Emmett, Edward and Jack were being forced by Alice to clear a very specific area of land for the wedding to take place under. The wedding itself wasn't for weeks but the incessant clairvoyant was incessant on getting everything in order for when the big day finally approached. Rosalie was quite unimpressed with the entire ordeal though she enveloped the invitations wordlessly at risk of being glared at by an angry Alice Cullen if she refused.
It happened so suddenly that for a long pause, Quinn didn't even notice as she continued to write the ending of the surname she was on, ignorant to the world around her as her sin glittered beautifully in the sunshine. It was Bella, who sat beside her, who was the one to break her from her daze as she stared around her in shock.
Frowning, Quinn followed Bella's gaze and horror-filled her at the sight. For a moment, Quinn thought that time had stopped and she and Bella continued on without the rest of the world, but as she saw the gentle breeze flutter through Alice's hair, she knew that couldn't possibly be true. The vampires around her were frozen, they had become living statues though their skin continued to glitter and Quinn and Bella could do nothing but frown and panic at the sight of them. They were like mannequins.
"Carlisle" Quinn panicked, almost tripping over the bench as she raced to her feet to approach him, taking his face gently in her hands, she was horrified to find that he didn't move an inch though his eyes stared straight back at her. "What the hell is happening?" she flustered, looking over him before scanning her eyes around the area at the others who were equally frozen, Emmett had his mouth slightly open, obviously having been mid-speech and Bella shivered, looking ready to cry at the mere sight of those around her as she bustled close to her side.
"Quinn" Bella shuddered.
"I can still hear cars" Quinn informed, ears listening intently. Her vampire mind was trying to think rationally, even though she wanted to panic like Bella currently was. "It's just them that are frozen."
"Very good" the sound of the voice made her skin crawl and she shuddered aggressively as it bolted through her. Quinn O'Connell didn't need to turn around to know who it was, she would know that voice anywhere, even if it was currently different from how it had once been. Bella looked visibly sick at the sight of him because despite having only seen him once before... Bella would recognise Quinn's worst nightmare anywhere.
He made Quinn feel like a child all over again and for the smallest of moments, she forgot she was a vampire and the frail part of her that had given up all those years ago crawled to the surface but seeing the panic on Bella's face, she knew that she had to be brave now, to save the girl that had become her sister over the past few months. It was easy to say that the voice was one that Quinn expected to hear least in the world, and even as she kept her back to him, she knew that he was different now. He was stronger now.
Quinn steeled her nerves and forced them down, imploring her mind to grow calm and her breathing to slow as she finally turned to him. When she did, all the emotions she had buried came spilling over the dam effortlessly. He was different now but that couldn't change the fact that he was a monster.
His skin was impossibly pale where he stood, glittering in the sunlight on the back porch of the Cullen house, lounging against the railing easily as if he owned the place with his pristine suit intact. His hair was darker, curlier, eyes a brilliant red that turned him into even more of a monster than he had once been as he grinned sharkishly at her- an expression that made her feel sick even if such a feeling was impossible for her kind.
The sight of him standing there so smugly was a strong indication to her that James had lied to her all those months ago in the ballet studio, that she had been living in a false peace and happiness ever since. It was a strong indication to her that her feelings were rational and that she wasn't going insane. He was real and he was there, only... He had never left.
