The Angel

Written By:TrueImmortality

You Can Read the Original Here:

All Credit Goes to the Original Author:

The Angel

Jasper’s Good Deed

I dropped my tote bag on the sidewalk and sank down onto the pavement, exhaustion threatening to pull me under right there on the side of the street. And wouldn’t that have been flattering, passing out like a drunk on the curb? I held my head in my hands; I didn’t care. Who cared what anyone else thought? Nothing mattered anymore, nothing but the cold, hard truth.

I had nowhere else to hide.

Oh, I was very good at pretending I had some meaning, some purpose in life. All the people at work thought I had it together, because I never missed a day out of the year, not even on Christmas. And I went to school, to a community college in this big, wretched city of Seattle. Again, the teachers and students there thought I had a life. Or maybe they didn’t—how could someone show up for every class period and have a social life?

Whatever. Whatever they thought they saw, it wasn’t the real thing. It didn’t matter what my boss—

But wait. I no longer had a boss.

I sighed, dragging my bag towards me and rummaging through it for the little slip of paper that had wrecked my pretense of stability. My notice, the notice my boss had given me that morning.

When he’d called me into his office, I hadn’t suspected anything out of the ordinary. Sometimes Mr. Harding—my boss—summoned his workers to hand them a new schedule. But that was certainly not what he handed me today.

"I’m sorry, Elise." To his credit, Mr. Harding did look regretful. "But we just can’t support so many workers."

I’d sat in the chair opposite him, holding the paper in my numb hands. "But—why are you firing me?" The implication had been: why me? I come to work every day. Why my job?

"You’re a great worker. Excellent, in fact. But, your job just isn’t necessary to this restaurant. I’ll give you your next paycheck, I promise."

What else could I say? I couldn’t change his mind. So I’d just gotten up, put the paper in my bag, and walked out.

Of course, I knew that wasn’t the only job in the entire city of Seattle. I knew that. With my work ethic, there wouldn’t be any trouble getting a new occupation.

It wouldn’t have been such a blow if I hadn’t have dropped all my classes at college to start working full-time at the restaurant. Now, not only was my income shot, my GPA was, too. Perfect.

Breathing in deeply, I realized I was quickly becoming icy cold on the sidewalk, the winter sludge that always piled up this time of year seeping into my boots. The long brown coat I was wearing insulated me somewhat, but not enough to knock the chill off. I laid my head on my arms, drawing my knees up to my chest and resting my arms there. The flimsy scarf around my neck hung down onto the ground, its end wet and dirty.

Ever since my parents died two years ago, life had gone from horrific to not much of a life at all. I went through the days in a stupor, going through the motions. The minute I stepped away from my dad's casket, my heart had shut down. It was like I'd entered one of those badly-filmed black and white movies, or a boring dream. I hadn't woken up from the dream yet.

Wake up, Elise,

I had told myself over and over. Face up to the pain.

But I couldn't shake myself up; I couldn't stand the piercing sorrow that filled me when I remembered my mom and dad. Someday, I would get over their deaths. Right now, I had to survive getting a new job.

"I can't," I moaned, staring through my fingers at the bright red and green signs in the store windows across the street. How could I move on? I was having trouble hauling my body off the sidewalk. Snow would be a good motivator, because even in this desperate state I didn't think I would sit still while I got buried in snow. Of course, I couldn't be sure-- I'd endured a lot in the last eighteen months.

Somewhere down the lane, a trendy boutique was playing an upbeat version of "Deck the Halls". I blinked. It was Christmas, wasn't it? My least favorite time of the year. There were too many memories about Christmas that hurt me. After all, it had been Mom's pet peeve to decorate the tree just before Christmas Day, and to have the same kind of turkey every year for dinner...

I shut my eyes, swallowing back the lump in my throat. I still missed them, every day, every minute.

Most people got past the grieving process after a few months, but I guess because I never really grieved my emotions were permanently stuck in the early stages of mourning. After two years, you'd think I'd be able to smile when I thought of the Christmases I'd shared with my parents. Instead I had this hollow ache where my heart should have been, a pain that was spreading into my other body parts. My arms wrapped around my knees hurt, then my legs.

Somehow, no one had ever asked me if I was okay with my mom and dad's deaths. I had relatives, but they lived far away and couldn't leave their own lives to bolster me up. My parents' friends helped me if they could, but their help came sporadoically in the form of cards or small amounts of cash, not comfort or kind words. And I shouldn't want consolation. I was nineteen years old, for heaven's sake, I thought angrily. I didn't need anyone's pity.

But I did. I did need a shoulder to cry on, very badly.

There wasn't anybody there, though. Nobody knew how wounded I still was, and I accepted full responsibility for that. If I had let someone know the first second I'd felt numb inside, I could have gotten help. Now it was too late for counseling, or hugging, or whatever it is that alleviates a mourner's pain.

What was I going to do?

I scrubbed my eyes with the back of my hand, ashamed at the tears forming. I couldn't cry in public, not like this. I had to get home to my apartment and surrender my last paycheck to my landlord. Then I had to surf the internet for job ads, or apply for welfare, which I might have to do anyway if I didn't get a job immediately.

Even though my mind was telling me these things, my body didn't move. Alarm made me frown; was I losing it for real? Had I just decided to sit on this street corner till I froze to death? Sounds good to me, I thought bleakly. What else am I going to do? Grin and bear it?

For the first time since I sat down I noticed the people walking by, staring at me. Some of them looked nervous, like they were scared I was an escaped asylum patient. Others cast me concerned glances, probably wondering if I needed help. Still more just walked on by, not paying attention to me at all.

I stared at the feet moving in the street, my feelings morose. How nice for these shopppers, that they had somewhere to go, to their families and friends, or boyfriends and girlfriends. I'd never had a boyfriend, and never wanted one, but as I watched the couples strolling down the sidewalks, I wondered if I'd missed out on a very good thing. Would a boyfriend make my pain easier or harder to deal with?

Oh well, my thoughts were just idle speculation. Guys hadn't shown much interest in me. I was too pretty for my own good-- boys only wanted to look at me, not get to know me. Correction: I had been pretty, before the funeral. Now my appearance was akin to a smoker's.

I bowed my head again, my hair falling in chunks through my fingers. Had anyone in the history of Washington, no, in the history of America, been more alone than I was now? Not likely.

Crying silently, shivering as the tears cooled on my face, I dimly heard the voices of the people passing in front of me. Most of the phrases were happily mundane. Normality: something I longed for.

"Honey, let's set up the tree tonight?"

"All right, baby. You want the kids to help with that?"

"Oh, dude! We so need to put that in our next podcast!"

"Yeah, totally! That's an awesome idea, Anna.

"...and Eva said she'd like that little set of napkin rings in the store at the mall, remember?...."

"I've got a lot to do today. Jean likes to have the house all nice for guests, you know."

"...never gonna get all this stuff done!"

"It's okay, sweetie, Mommy will get you a new one."

Amid the rushing steps and mixed voices, I heard one conversation clearly. The pair of feet I assumed the voices belonged to were walking less than a foot from me.

"Look at that, Jasper. Esme would like that, for the front door, you know the one she had last year looked a lot like that."

"We're supposed to pick up the watch for Carlisle, Alice. Focus."

"It'll take me ten minutes to fetch the watch. You buy the wreath, then wait here."

"If you think so. But I'd rather get out of here quickly."

"Don't be such a Scrooge." The woman's voice was getting farther away.

The man's voice chuckled. "Bah, hum--"

The pair of feet stopped, directly in front of me. He must have droppped something, I thought indifferently. But that must not have been the case, because the feet didn't resume their long stride. He just stood there. Why was he standing still, and right in front of me?

Anxious, I lifted my face to look at him.

It was all I could do not to gape.

The man looked to be about my age, only the main difference was he was too astounding for words, and I looked like I'd been pulled backwards through a shrub. Tall and muscular, this man had a body most college-age guys would kill to obtain. Not to mention he was dressed in up-scale clothes that without a doubt cost more than my last paycheck. He was blonde, with skin to match his hair. He was so pale he was almost white, and his fair coloring accentuated the dark circles under his eyes. And his eyes. They were the strangest shade of brown I'd ever seen, more like a light amber, set in incredible bone structure. His eyes were mesmerizing.

Even if I'd wanted to, I couldn't look away.

He was staring straight at me, his beautiful face full of an expression I didn't understand. It was a blend of intensity, shock, and deepest anguish. And, to my astonishment, pity.

How could this complete stranger, especially this stranger, feel pity for me?

My hands twisted in my lap, expressing my discomfort with the stranger's stare. He continued to gaze at me, oblivious to my disbelief. We remained like that, a wintry tableau, for several breath-taking moments, while all around us the activity of Christmas Eve went on. Finally, he seemed to realize how eccentric his behavior was. "I--I am sorry," he said, his breath coming out in soft clouds. "I'm really, terribly sorry."

Maybe he was just apologizing for acting so odd. That would be what most people did, try to be as polite as possible after they creep someone out. But that didn't stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes. The way he'd said it made me think of all the nights when I'd wished for just one person to tell me they were sorry my parents had died, and mean it.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, around the sobs in my chest, "but--" I couldn't say anymore.

Embarassed, I searched frantically for a tissue as I cried. The man hastily pulled out his own handkerchief and offered it to me, and it felt like a wave of reassurance came with the cloth.

"Thank you," I gasped, and buried my face in the stiff white square.

I could speak in a few minutes, calming down enough to do more than try to breathe. And he was still there, the unbelievably gorgeous man with his unbelievable kindness.

I sighed. "I think I ruined your handkerchief."

"Don't worry about it. I have more." He smiled fractionally. My breath hitched in my throat.

"Thank you so much. I--I don't know--" It was so weird, and hard to explain. "Just, when you--you see," I decided to start from the beginning, "my parents died a couple years ago, and, well, I just feel so horrible this time of year. Christmas was Mom's favorite holiday. It's just so hard." I sniffed; I was going to get through this speech. "And when you said you were sorry--I don't know...it just made it all come unglued." I smiled too, hoping I wasn't scaring him.

The beautiful man said nothing, but the sympathy in his eyes almost sent me into another convulsion of sobs. I looked down, struggling to form coherent words, something to prevent him from going away with the understanding that I was clinically rude and insane.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to reorganize my thoughts. A long white hand flashed into my vision, dropping a sizeable number of green bills into my lap. The one folded in half on the outside was a fifty. "Oh, no--" I began, but he cut me off.

"Please. Take it." His amber eyes were earnest.

"But I can't--"

"I have more." He grinned suddenly, but the smile faded as soon as it came. Turning, he moved his feet to start walking. Then he hesitated. "Do take it. And...don't be afraid. You will live through this." He sounded like he didn't say those kind of dramatic things often, as if he felt awkward.

The next thing I knew, he was gone, lost in the crowds of Christmas shoppers. He was gone in a flash, just like the pain in my heart. Where was the agony I'd felt earlier? It was like the man had taken it away with him, blowing it into the wind.

How could I ever be grateful enough for what that man did for me?

Tremulously, I wiped my eyes and flipped open the wad of bills. I couldn't believe what I saw. Did they really still make bills these large? In a state of incredulity, I counted out the numbers. Five hundred, one thousand, two thousand, three thousand and fifty...

Five thousand. I had five thousand dollars sitting in my lap.

I was choking up once more.

"Thank you," I whispered, to the snow falling gently onto my head.

My rent, my groceries for the week--for the month-- and who knew what else, all paid off. How rich was that man? To whom had I just spilled my heart out? A millionaire, or a millionaire's son? A famous actor, maybe? I hadn't recognized him, though I would never, as long as I lived, forget his face.

His beautiful face.

The face of an angel.

Ardor

Written By:x.Deni.x
You can read the original here:
All credit goes to the original author

Ardor

He let’s the heat take over, and strays away from the reservation, in search of her.

He needs her, he wants her, and he thinks she has finally figured out it’s what she wants too.

No, he didn’t want a camaraderie, he wanted love. He wanted a relationship. He wanted her.

The trees went swiftly past him, branches leering out as if to stop him, but he kept on running, running for her.

He changes back to normal form in midair as he runs for her house.

The moon was high in the sky.

He crept up the tree stealthily, before jumping into her open window.

Luckily, the bloodsucker isn’t there.

She blearily sits up, and seems to recognise him.

“Jake?” She mumbles.

He nods, the shadow of his frame matching him perfectly, and his silhouette brought out his huge form.

He walks over to her bed, and she reaches for him desperately.

“Bella,” He breathes, before gently capturing her soft, warm lips.

Mechanical

Written By:Fireflamesinferno
You can read the original here:
All credit goes to the original author

“Blondie, where the hell’d you go?”

If her friggin’ nasty scent wasn’t smothered all over the mansion, I may have had a fighting chance at finding the Cullen’s resident Ice Queen. But unfortunately, wolf instincts come with a little side effect known as overwhelming of the senses. And considering Blondie had clearly made an effort to speed all over the house when she heard me approaching, solely for the purpose of masking her current location…

I stood in the middle of the living room, absently kicking the perfect white couch, probably denting the thing. The scent of sickly sweet amaretto and burnt wood swirled in the air, swelling strongly in every corner. Crap. I couldn’t catch the freshest trail with my gag reflex going.

It didn’t help that she was home alone.

The Cullen clan had left the day before on a hunting trip to Canada. And Bella decided to take Nessie with them. I wasn’t feeling entirely too pleasant about that in the first place, but the fact that they weren’t back yet was really bugging the crap out of me. I had spent all morning patrolling the woods, to no avail. They weren’t back yet, like Bella had said they would be. And that just plain sucked.

I had put up a huge fight about Nessie going in the first place. Bella wouldn’t hear it. She has mother superiority over imprinted soul mate, I guess. And she did say they would be back earlier that morning. But no, they weren’t. So I tried to find their trail. I tried their cell phones (who carries cells when hunting?) I even left a couple nasty voicemails that were sure to get me a couple well placed kicks to my shins. I had exhausted every research, and all before lunch, too.

So, tail tucked between my legs, I ran to the Cullen mansion, a man in need.

Why was Rosalie still here anyway? Why wasn’t she off hunting with her darling hulk and family? It was a conundrum, especially given her obsessive attachment to Ness.

Not that I cared.

“Damn it, Blondie, if you don’t come out from whatever slimy rock you’re cowering under, I swear I’m going to dent your BMW. Nice, big ol’ dent right in the middle of that shiny red hood.”

Nothing. Again.

She really enjoyed screwing with me. I stalked off to the garage, winding through the kitchen to the adjoining door. “I’m doing it!”

Kicking down the door seemed dramatic enough, so I did just that. The wood splintered open, hanging limply off the broken hinges. The sweet aroma of gas and grease and fresh wax wafted out of the room, putting up an effort to mask the obvious swell of amaretto and burnt wood that filled the whole damn house. I finally was able to breathe a little in comfort.

Stalking over to the crimson beauty that was nestled next to the Wrangler, I paused. I loved cars. And the M3 was a gorgeous little European piece. Smashing the hood in could break a little part of my heart, even though Ness basically owned the whole sha-bang.

I stood deliberating over that fact for a moment, long enough to note that the smell of something foul was especially strong here. “Barbie, come out, come out, wherever you are…”

With a snarl and the sound of rolling wheels, half of her emerged from underneath the BMW on a mechanic’s cart.

“Something wicked this way comes.” I smirked, crossing my arms over my chest. “I knew you couldn’t bear to part with your precious car’s perfection. God forbid you drive something crapped up.”

“What do you want, mongrel?”

It was all she said, and her glare looked as though it could cut right through me. Not that it could. Healing fast had its way with evil women.

I hated, no, loathed to admit it, but she looked sort of freaking hot. Her honey blonde hair was normally abnormally perfect. Because she lay across the cart, her hair was splayed out in a tangled halo. There was a small grease smudge on her right cheek, directly across from her beauty mark. She wore an especially grungy V-neck tee, one marked with even more grease spots. Unfortunately, it was damn sexy.

Of course, I immediately crushed these thoughts. She may have been gorgeous, but she was the devil in an angel’s body. Who smelled bad.

“Y’know, Barbie, when I said the whole slimy rock thing, I didn’t really think you’d be somewhere filthy. The apocalypse must be on the way. Your hair’s dirty.”

“Do you actually have a reason to be here or do you just need a break from the fleas?” She sneered at me, dropping a grimy rag on the cement. With a graceful kick, she rolled completely out and shifted to a sitting position on the cart.

I wrinkled my nose. Now I could smell her perfectly. Amaretto wouldn’t have been bad if it wasn’t mixed strongly with the smell of burning, smoke, and overly sweet almond. The concoction was absolutely disgusting. I couldn’t fathom how the hulk bloodsucker could stand to be near her.

“Yeah, they do itch.” I ran a hand through my unruly hair and scratched it fiercely. I heard her hiss in disgust. “Now, as much as I would love to give my new blonde joke a run, I kind of have this problem.”

“Hm. Don’t care.” She stood up in one fluid motion, like she was liquid. Stalking over to the drool worthy tool chest in the garage’s corner, she began fishing through a drawer.

“Yeah, you do. Where the hell’s Ness? Bells said they’d be back by now.” I crossed between the leech’s Volvo and Doc’s Mercedes to stop a few paces from her.

Rosalie’s facial expression remained visibly unchanged to the human eye as she continued to fish through a vast collection of wrenches. I noticed, however, that her jaw line tightened ever so slightly beneath that flawless, ivory skin.

“Don’t know.” She lifted up a hefty wrench, observed it for a moment, and then replaced it, taking another one instead. “And, even if I did,” she turned around with a wicked smirk crossing her full lips, “What makes you think I’d tell you?”

What a freaking bitch. Not gonna lie, I was sick of her attitude. I drew dangerously closer. Anger made my muscles tense tightly. I practically had to restrain myself from taking a swing at her perfect little face. And she was little.

I suddenly felt very side tracked by her proximity. Realizing I had never noticed how tiny she was in proportion to me, I felt even more bravado to prod the sleeping beast within. My hand slammed the drawer she had been fishing through shut, and I leaned forward, snarling in her face. “Why are you still here, Ice Queen?”

“None of you business, pup.” She hissed back just as vehemently, shifting to the right, moving away from my hold on the tool chest. My other arm shot out, efficiently trapping her against the chest. It was too hot in the garage, and I was beginning to feel very pissed off.

“Nah, I think it is. You won’t tell me where they are or what they’re doing.” She shrunk back against the chest, but her golden eyes challenged me, not unlike a wildcat. Or a wildfire. Anything that would freaking rip me to shreds at the snap of a finger. “So if I can’t know why they’re not back yet,” I continued, daring her to strike me, “Then I want to know why the hell you’re here.”

She lifted the small wrench she had been holding and shoved it against my chest like a pointer. Hard. The thing dug into my pecs like hell. “Read my lips, fleabag. None. Of. Your. Business.”

“Is it the jealousy thing about Ness, Blondie? Because, frankly, that’s becoming a little outdated.” She didn’t flinch, but I could see her eyes darkening with a color that looked almost red. Point for me. “Or, hey, I got one for you.” I smiled cockily, denting the tool chest slightly with my fist. “Did you just want to get me alone?”

She hissed at that, like a rabid cat, and the wrench hit the floor with a loud clang. “You wish, filthy mutt.”

I chuckled slightly, knowing I was close to an answer. For a brief moment, I studied her. Her harsh features were intensely fierce and edged with fury. She looked like she was seriously considering ripping out my throat. I wondered if I was pushing it way too far. But the smell of amaretto burnt wood was too strong and the way she sniffed at me derisively nudged me over the edge. “Oh, I know. Bet it’s marital problems. The Incredible Hulk not doing it for you?”

Before I could even fully vocalize the last word, I suddenly found myself slammed against the garage door, my spine bending awkwardly at the metal bracing, and a very tightly clenched fist around my throat. Rosalie stood before me, her eyes a pulsing, dark amber. Her teeth were bared and her chest heaved with hatred, despite the fact that she didn’t need to breathe.

I was highly disturbed that I actually found the whole look really hot. Like, really damn hot. She stared at me for a moment, severely contemplating an attempt at killing me. She wasn’t really strangling me yet, but I could see the lust for it in her eyes.

I became aware that my pulse was pounding with hot blood, and that I too was snarling, ever so slightly. The entire moment was so very animalistic, and freaking on edge. I considered making the move for her and jumping her in wolf form. “Try me, Blondie. Just try me.”

“Don’t you ever talk about Emmett and me again. Ever.” She squeezed my throat in emphasis, causing my veins to flood with even more throbbing. So there really was trouble in Cullen land. Wow, I hadn’t actually meant to hit her in the gut like that. But geez, how was I supposed to know? And at that point, I was so pissed at her anyways, and the garage was just so damn burning that it didn’t faze me that much.

I saw her gaze briefly flicker to my jugular, watching the pulse of blood there as she dug her perfectly manicured nails around it. I wasn’t about to pass up her moment of distraction.

With equal speed and force, I whipped her around by her arm and flipped her against the wall. Just as swiftly, I had her arms pinned above her head in one fist hold. I planted the other hand next to her head pressed my leg forward to keep her pinned. “Gonna suck my blood, leech? Go ahead, I’ll let you have a taste.” I offered my neck to her, thrusting my head over her should and against the wall.

It was then, that I became acutely aware of our position: her silken lips barely gracing my throat, my leg firmly planted between her splayed thighs, her chest still heaving against mine. Her frozen wrists suddenly felt scorching. I breathed against the cement wall, taking in her aroma. It suddenly occurred to me that it wasn’t exactly her smell that was disgusting, just the overwhelming intensity of it. Amaretto burnt wood wasn’t half bad. In fact, the scent was utterly wild. I forced myself to draw back ever so slightly, pulling away from those heavenly, unmoving lips. I look her straight in the eye. “What, no takers?”

She didn’t respond, and I realized she too was fully aware of the situation at hand. And not opposed to it. Which just about floored me. It was just so…so wrong. Her gaze was no longer infuriated. It was intrigued. Pissed off, definitely. But scared. Thrilled. Hazardous. Turned on.

I didn’t know what to do. Without ever drifting from her hard gaze, I hesitantly brought my right hand off the wall and placed it on the side of her hip. I pulled her flush against me and was too pleased to hear her make a small thrumming noise in the back of her throat. Slowly, I let my hand explore forbidden, frozen territory. She was a secret tundra, one I hadn’t realized how bad I wanted to survey until right then. Her stomach was flat, but strong. Her sides were so perfectly curved, but small enough for my large hand to encompass. I flitted past her breast to her collar bone, not brave enough to linger. Even if she would have let me, which I wasn’t entirely sure she would be opposed to.

Finally, I cupped her cheek and ran my thumb over her perpetually red, full mouth, feeling the crease in the top and the pillowy bottom. Oh, how bad I wanted to kiss her. How terribly, freaking bad. When I moved my hand back to cup the back of her head and feel her hair, I saw her tongue flit out and lick her lips slightly. Oh geez, that was just too much.

And suddenly, the boiling heat in my stomach turned to guilt and shame and something entirely too monstrous for me to comprehend. Damn, I wanted her. But we couldn’t. We shouldn’t. I couldn’t do that to Ness. To Emmett. To Bella. It was like driving a wedge straight between Rose and her family. I couldn’t do that to the Ice Queen, or to the rest of them. I didn’t love Rose, that was for sure, but I couldn’t screw with her life just because of some sort of sexual tension thing we had going. She needed to work out her own crap, and I didn’t need to add to the issue. We would never work out.

I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. The action was all I needed to tell her exactly what was going on in my head. She sighed with disappointment, strangely. “Damn it.”

“I know, right?”

Her chuckle rumbled deeply into my chest. Wow. She laughed. And not in a mocking way. She genuinely laughed at something I said. I smiled against her cold forehead. “Would have been damn good fun.”

She nodded slightly, and moved her hands from my relaxed hold. Placing one hand against my chest, she looked me in the eye, serious. “What are we going to do about…this?”

“No clue.” I sighed miserably. Oh damn, how I just wanted to kiss her. And do other things with her. “Not think about it in front of Edward and make a point of never being alone together?”

“That’s a start.” She toyed with the rim of my wife beater, her face slightly darkening. “And I need to fix things with Emmett.”

My stomach dropped. Damn, so I had been right on target. Good job, Jake. Be the asshole. We had to get over this. I knew she loved him. “And maybe be friends? Because it couldn’t kill us.”

She laughed again, which made me grin. I liked that sound a lot. Maybe I should focus more on being nice. Rosalie sniffed again, raising a statuesque brow. “Yeah it could. You still smell like a wet dog.”

Scratch that. Blonde jokes galore for the next twenty years.

Myths and Legends

Written By:MoonlightSpirit
You can read the original here:
All credit goes to the original author

Bella POV

1 year. That's how many years it's been since we left Forks. Since I started my immortal life as a vampire. Since I had my daughter, Renessmee. And now the me and my family were returning, for summer vacation. Forks was the best place for a vampire to stay during the summer. Even throughout the summer, Forks was usually cloudy and rainy. The ideal summer vacation spot for a vampire that sparkled in the sunlight. We figured that we could get away with one more summer at Forks, without anyone suspecting that we never aged. Renessmee would be passing as my cousin, spending summer with us, Her rapid growth had sped up over the one year we were one and now she had stopped aging at the age of 16.

At this moment, Edward and I were walking casually down the streets of Forks. holding hands. Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie were back at the house while Renessmee had gone over to La Push in her new car- a bright blue Viper- to visit Jacob (Alice assured Edward that she didn't see anything...inappropriate happening between them. But that didn't stop him from calling every three seconds. Okay, that's an exaggeration, it was more like every half hour). Not much had changed in the one year we were gone. A few new stores had popped up, but that was it.

"Not much has changed, has it?" Edward asked me, reading my mind-not literally of course. I shook my head. Suddenly, I stopped short as a smell assaulted my nose. I glanced at Edward, who was looked at me, confusion on his face.

"I smell it to," he said, "Odd." What was odd was that, this was a sent I never encountered. It smelled human, moist-like the smell of rain after it's stopped- and salty, with a light floral scent. Edward and I continued walking, scanning the area for the source of the odd smell that was getting stronger.

"What is that?" I muttered, confused. Edward shrugged.

"I don't like this," he muttered, "I've never smelled something like this." Edward and I remained tensed as five people came down the sidewalk, walking the opposite way from us. Three of them were girls, about sixteen or seventeen. Two were blonde and the other was a brunette. Holding the hand of the brunette girl was a blonde boy. With them was an old woman with thick blonde curls. The three girls kept looking up apprehensively at the cloudy sky.

"Girls, don't worry," said the old woman in a hushed voice that wouldn't be heard by normal human ears, "I told you, this place is special. The water won't affect you here." Edward and I looked at each other with matching confused looks. What were they talking about? And something else was puzzling. The odd smell was coming from the three girls. Only them. The boy and old woman smelt normal. We passed them and continued our walk. Once the five of them were out of earshot, Edward and I stopped walking and he looked at me, his brow furrowed.

"You read their mind?" I asked. Edward nodded.

"But I can't believe it," he said, "In all my years of existence, I never thought..."

"What is it Edward?" I asked impatiently. Edward's eyes bored into mine as he said, "Those three girls, they're...mermaids."

Suicidal Romantic

Written By:kiss-bang-BAM
You can read the original here:
All credit goes to the original author

I wanted to hate him with every fiber of my being. I wanted to run until my legs gave out and I fell to my knees. I wanted to cry until I drowned in a pool of saltwater. I wanted to scream until my voice disappeared and my throat ached. I wanted to do anything but stand here and stare.

My eyes were glued to the picture watching their every moment in high definition. I watched him caress her biting my tounge until blood rushed forth and into my mouth. I watched her kiss him digging my fingernails into my palm until the skin screamed in protest turning a volient red and pulsing with pain.

I opened my mouth meaning to yell but only an airy whisper escaped not even a real word just a strangled sound. My eyes burned as tears finally pressed their way over my bottom eye lid refusing to be held back any longer. They were warmed against my cheek and their taste was harsh and demanding against my parted lips.

My breathing was no longer slow but instead it came in short gasps. That didn't get enough air to my lungs and made my head spin. I wasn't sure if I could even continue breathing. The first sob broke through my lips a loud, broken sound.

This they heard two heads rose to face me. Strawberry blond hair fell into the girls carmel eyes, my perfect full lips turned down into a frown, and her melted gold eyes displayed only smypthy not regret. His bronze locks were in a state of total disarray he seemed unsure of what to say but pushed the blonde, tanya away and made a movement to apporach me.

He reached out to touch me but I jerked away and did the one thing I should have done in the first place. I screamed like someone being reached for by a monster. That was what she was not the super hero of my fantasies but a monster from my wrost nightmares.

I felt two stone cold hands land on my shoudler pulling me away from him and pulling me toward them. I sobbed against the purple matieral of whatever my savoir was wearing.

I felt my feet come off the ground. I was being lifted, taken somewhere. A few seconds later I was being laid down against the cullens white living room couch. Someone sit down beside me rubbing my arm and whispering over and over that that they were sorry.

I looked up at the pixie like face of my hero, Alice. "How could he?" I said whimpering like child who's dog had just gotten hit by a car.

"I should have seen this coming." Alice scolded herself looking like she would cry with me if she could. Her eyes so much like his, a deep melting pot of gold. I couldn't stand it. My stomach turned and I thought for sure I would be sick.

"Alice I need to go." I choked out. Alice looked down away from my face.

"Bella will you be back?" Alice asked looking up her eyes displaying a deep hurt.

"No Alice, I don't think so." I replied looking away from her.

"Of course I understand." Alice replied picking me up again. I tried not to breath not wanting to smell that scent of vampire, not wanting to even feel their icy skin.

A wave of peppermint and tobacco washed over of senses as she settled me into the truck. The familar smell causing me to break out in fresh tears. How many times me and him had sit in my truck just like this. I bite down on my bottom lip and dug my fingers into my palm willing this pain to stop.

Alice drove me home driving rather slow as if to say good-bye without words. She never turned on the radio and she never said a word. At my house my helped me out of the truck and didn't even wave before turning and running toward the dark forest. I swear my heart almost stopped as my mind seen Edward not Alice retreating for forever.

I dragged myself into the kitchen of my home and up to the bathroom. I didn't even stop to look at myself in the mirror I just opened the cabinet and pulled out the three white bottles, sleeping pills, pain pills, random pills. I didn't care. I dumped their contents into a single pile. And ran the glass I used when brushing my teeth full of water. I dumped the first handful in my mouth and shallowed with water. Same with the second and the third.

My world blurred. I felt myself falling and threw my hands out in fornt of me grabbing at empty air trying to catch myself. I hit the tiled floor hard, my head bounced against the tile before tossing me into a blackness so dark that I wasn't sure it was possible to have light here.

I knew it was over. I couldn't remember my own name anymore. I couldn't remember how to breath. My chest hurt with my effort to get some air. I felt like I was in the middle of black jello. My body felt unattachted and my thoughts ran together with no clear path.

I let go completely not bothering to try and force breath within me anymore. I felt myself slip away as if someone had cut the last strings bounding me to the real world. Suddenly everything got cold and a sigh shuddered past my lips, my whole body shivered with the chill, and it was over.

Your Guardian Angel

Written By:Hana-Bass
You can read the original here:
All credit goes to the original author

I woke up this morning, normal day. Went downstairs, had breakfast, dressed up for school and left. Once at school, I met with my friends at the lockers. Nicole –or Nicky–, one of my friends, who is completely in love with the one I love too, talked about this guy, named Derek, that he had been really nice with her since he became her lab partner. I didn’t feel jealous at all, what had been her intention: to make me jealous; but I wasn’t.

“So, Jamie,” Nicky said trying to make me jealous, but without success. “Don’t you think Derek looks way hotter with his new hairstyle? He told me he just cut it!”

“Yeah, he looks great,” I said coldly. There was something that caught my attention.

On the other side of the hallway, hidden in the corner, was a tall guy. His skin was extremely pale, a lot more than mine; he had long-straight black hair, covering one of his eyes; the naked eye was–or I think it was– like a bloody red, but I couldn’t say for sure, since my sight is not so good. He was wearing black clothes, from top to bottom: black pants, black shirt, black shoes, and some black, punk gloves.

He looked really abnormal, like if he doesn’t belong to this school–or world–, but his eyes were the scariest aspect he had… And I caught him staring at me, with deep-cold eyes. I went pale and Nicky saw my scared expression.

“J? Are you okay?”

It took me like a minute to react, “Yes.”

“We gotta go now, the bell had rung already.”

So we both left the locker area. I turned once more and I saw him again, leaning on the wall, arms crossed over his chest, staring at me while everyone left the area except him.

Once at the classroom, I asked Nicky:

“Hey, who’s the new guy?”

“What? What new guy?” Nicky asked confused.

“The pale-white guy, who’s dressed up with dark clothes.”

“There’s no one in this high school with that aspect, J.”

“But, I swear I saw someone like that!” I was really confused.

“Maybe you’re just imagining things, J. The teacher’s already here, you can go to the nursery if you feel dizzy or something.”

“But N, I told you I’m fine! I swear I saw him!”

Nicky stared at me confused, “Sure, J. We’ll talk about it later.” She went to her place.

I swear I saw him… There was for sure a guy like that on the lockers. Well… maybe Nicky is right; maybe I’m imagining things.

I stood up and asked the teacher permission to go to the nursery. Once there, the nurse told me I was pretty fine, that I should just drink water and relax. I wasn’t feeling good at all to return to Physics class, my mind was busy with other thoughts. I went for a glass of water and sat on the benches at the hallways, near the lockers. I stared at the place where the dark guy was before. He was gone for now, maybe to his next class? If so, that left my mind less worried, maybe he is a normal guy, why shouldn’t he be? I have no reasons to think that way about him, I mean, I don’t even know him.

I drank a little more water, when I felt a cold scent beside me; that made me shiver once. And, when I turned, I was surprised as well as scared of what I saw. It was him… the dark guy. He stayed standing still, not moving any muscle at all. Even though he looked scary, I stayed firm and introduce myself, to be polite:

“Umh, hi. I’m Jamie, and you?”

He was staring directly at my eyes, but then his naked eye–which I’ve finally seen it better and was indeed bloody red– stared at my hand, stretched for him to take it. I had to admit he was extremely beautiful. Even though I’ve considered dark people disgusting to me, this one was an exception. He was really beautiful.

I felt a little silly with my hand stretching on air without him taking it. Finally, he moved slowly his arm, but before he could take my hand, I heard someone screaming my name:

“Hey, Jamie!” Derek called, walking by the hallway, waving his hand high up.

When I turned back at the dark guy, he was gone. Like if he had disappeared all of a sudden, without making any noise or anything. It was really scary… my hand fell slowly at my side.

Derek finally came up to me, “Why were you stretching your arm?”

“Umh, I just met, or almost met, the new guy. But he’s gone.”

“New guy? What are you talking about? There’s no new guy.”

“That’s what Nicky told me, but I swear there’s someone in this school that just arrived!” I stood up from the bench.

“Uh, Jamie, maybe you’re imagining things. Why don’t you go to the nursery?” He scratched the back of his head, confused.

“I just came back from there! Because Nicky told me the exact same thing!”

“Well, she’s probably right.”

“I swear there’s a new guy…”

“Hm, well… We’ll talk about this later; I have to go to my next class, so see ya!” He waved good-bye, running to his classroom.

I sighed, confused. Why doesn’t anyone believe me? Am I just imagining him? Is he not real? This was all turning into a scary story. My legs felt weak; I was about to faint, when suddenly two cold hands stopped me from falling. I turned my face back and saw the dark guy again. I felt his hands on my arms, and he had stopped me from falling. He’s solid… so he has to be real!

He was staring at me, with a really small smile. I couldn’t smile at all; are me eyes lying? He was absolutely beautiful; like an angel fallen from the sky. But angels are not dark, so what is he?

He ran one of his hands all the way to my hand, taking it softly. I had felt his cold hand running through my arm, which made me shiver lightly; while his other hand started to play with my brown, soft hair. My eyes were wide open, scared and confused; my mouth opened a little to take a breath. I could feel his cold skin grazing mine. This was all completely strange; what does he think he’s doing?

Finally, I reacted and rudely apart his hand from my hair and removed his other hand from mine. He stared at me with deep, confused eyes, without saying a word.

“Who are you?” I finally said, turning all my body around, facing him firmly.

He took my hand again, “You should’ve asked ‘What are you?’” He whispered in a cold, dead voice; beautiful at the same time. He kissed my hand softly and faded away.

Scared, confused, and secretly in love, I fell to the floor, sitting with my arms wrapping my knees. “What are you?” He had said… What does he meant by that statement? I was really scared… But something in me wants him near, like if I depend on him. He always appears all of a sudden, and disappears when someone else is near… Why?

I put my hands on my face and kept a scream to myself. What is going on? Who’s this guy? Or, what is this guy?

I heard the bell ring, and saw everyone going out of their classrooms. Everyone was staring at me strangely. I didn’t mind if anyone was staring, I was worried about other important things. Nicky saw me and told me:

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, I’m alright,” I lied.

“Well, c’mon, I have to tell you something about Der…” She paused when she saw Derek coming to us. “Oh, hi Derek!” She blushed.

“Hi, Nicky. Umh, can you leave us alone? I need to talk with Jamie,” he said staring at me.

Nicky glanced at me fiercely, “Okay,” she left.

It was already time to go home, so we had to talk in the bus.

“So, Jamie,” Derek began. “You’ve been acting really weird today. Are you okay?”

“Derek, I know that if I tell you you won’t ever believe me,” I sighed.

“Well, try. I have no reasons to mistrust you,” he smiled gently. He was really beautiful; his golden brown hair, his sky blue eyes, his perfect smile…

“Well, is about that guy I told you before…”

“Oh,” he said with a tone that seemed not interested at all.

“Derek, I know what I saw!”

“And what exactly did you saw?”

“Him! The dark guy! I swear there’s someone like that in this school, and…” I turned my face back at the last seat, and there he was again… staring. “There he is! Look!” I pulled Derek’s arm and he turned to see where I was seeing, but after I blinked, he was gone.

“Uh… Jamie, there’s no one in there.”

“But, I swear…” I hesitated, but before Derek could speak, I stood up and sat next to the dark guy, I was staring at him and he back at me. Derek was watching me confused, and I could’ve sworn that he already thought I was crazy.

“Why can’t they see you?” I whispered.

He didn’t answered to my question, just took my hands softly, and leaned his forehead on mine, smiling. His coldness was extremely rare, since we were on middle autumn, and the weather was warm enough.

“Why?” I whispered again, closing my eyes, feeling his coldness. But the moment I opened them, he was gone. I blinked surprised, and looked back at Derek, who was staring at me awkwardly. I felt really stupid.

The bus had stopped. I didn’t turn to the windows to see where I was; I just walked towards the doors and went out. It was all foggy; I couldn’t see anything at all. I was really scared now. One hand took mine softly.

I smiled, “I knew you were coming…”

“Well, of course, I had to go out of the bus, this was the last stop.” It was Derek, not the one I had expected.

“Oh, Derek. Where are we?”

“I have no idea,” he was looking around, squeezing my hand.

“Derek… This is definitely not where I live, you know? I mean, I’m already getting nervous.”

“Chillax, girl. We’ll be fine… I think.”

“Exactly; we don’t know for sure,” I said looking around scared.

“Yeah, well we’ll be fine as long as we stay together,” he said squeezing my hand a little harder.

“So, where should we go?”

“You’re asking me? I have no idea, but… let’s just keep walking straight,” he pulled my hand, walking forward.

I felt a familiar aura near. Is him, he’s following me again…

I turned back while Derek kept looking forward, and saw him. I wasn’t going to make a fool of myself again, trying to make Derek believe me; I’ve just realized no one can see him but me. Strange, but true.

He was looking at me with an evil smirk, but irresistible. I looked at him with a confused face. He suddenly disappeared with all the fog; I turned forward. What did he meant by that smirk? Derek suddenly stopped.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I don’t know; look over there,” he said looking at a strange, little house. It was indeed in the middle of nowhere. All was foggy and blurry, while the house highlighted the whole place.

“What’s with the house? This is not like a place to live or something. I don’t even know where we are,” I said shaking my head lightly.

“I know; but anyway, let’s go check who’s in there, maybe we can stay there for a while or ask for directions? Whatever that can help,” he shrugged.

“Okay, I’ll just follow you; as long as I’m with you, I feel less worried.”

“That’s good; you make me feel important,” he smiled.

So, we walked towards that strange, little house. Once there, we knocked the door. A woman opened the door; she was wearing an old-fashioned dress, like from the 19th or 18th century. Her hair was combed all up into a tall, curly pile of hair; classic of that century. It was really weird, no one wears that nowadays.

I turned to see Derek’s face; he was as shocked as I was.

He whispered in my ear, “Is this a kind of joke or something?”

“I would like to know…” I whispered back.

“Oh; welcome, welcome, my dears!” The woman called.

“Uhhh… Hi, miss uh…” Derek hesitated.

“Don’t worry, darling; just come in! We have some fresh fruit so you can have something to eat,” she said with a British accent.

“Thanks, that’s very sweet from you;” I said, “but… we’re just here to ask for some help.”

“Oh, how come?” She exclaimed.

“Yeah, well we’re lost… Miss,” Derek said.

“Well, you’ve come just in the right place! Come, come!” The woman said, pulling our hands.

Once in there, there were other four women, dressed up the same as this one. What in the world was all these? Where are we? Who are these strange women? Anyway, the woman let us sit on the fancy, old-fashioned coaches. The other women were drinking some tea, staring at us with strange faces.

“Ladies, we have some newcomers!” The woman who received us called out with that accent.

“Hi,” Derek said.

“Hello,” I said, trying to sound polite.

“My, my;” one woman said, standing up, looking at us strangely, “So, what is this way of dressing up? And your hair!” The woman was referring to me.

“Indeed,” another one said. “Look at her extremely short miniskirt! In my times, they didn’t allow us to show our legs that much!”

I felt embarrassed; I placed my hands on my legs as I blushed a little.

“And your hair, why is it straight down?”

Derek almost laughed, but he resisted.

“And let’s not talk just about you, young lady. What’s with your boyfriend?”
“Oh, no, no, no… He’s not my boyfriend. He’s… just a friend,” I grinned nervously. Of course, I wanted that so badly to be true.

“Oh my dear; your pants, your hair, your jacket!” A woman shocked. Of course it was shocking in her times, but he looked hot in my times. “You look like a repulsive vagabond! Why don’t you just wear a nice tie, clean smocking, and comb your hair backwards to show your delightful face! That’ll help this young lady next to you fall in love easily!” The woman shouted.

We both blushed; damn with these women!

“Why don’t you dress like we do?” A woman asked.

“Oh, boy…” I sighed.

“And that language? We don’t use that type of language, dear!”

I shocked by her reaction and squeezed Derek’s hand.

“Anyhow, I’ll get you some tea!” One called.

“Was it a good idea to come to this place?” I whispered at Derek’s ear.

“Well, now that I see it for myself, no.” He whispered back.

“I rather prefer being lost outside than being shocked inside.”

“Hey, that rhymes;” he laughed lightly. I elbowed him hard. “Sorry,” he said.

Then the woman came with two cups of tea, “there you go, darlings.”

“Oh, sorry, I don’t like tea;” Derek said.

“Nonsense! Everyone likes tea!” She cried out, and then lowered her voice, “you’ll drink it even if you don’t like it.”

“Uh… yeah; I think I need to go to the bathroom,” he said shocked.

“Yeah, and I need to… make a call!” I said, trying to follow Derek.

“Take your time, dears. The bathroom is at the bottom left; the phone is right next to the bathroom.”

“Thanks,” we both said, running where she had said.

Once there, we hid ourselves in a room, which was–or I think it was–one of the women’s room.

“We have to find a way out of here!” I whispered desperately.

“I know, I know! But, where? These women are freaking me out!” He said desperately as I was.

“God…” I ran my hand through my hair, thinking.

While Derek was looking around, I heard a door creaking nearby. I turned my face and saw the dark guy, opening a door lightly, looking at me with a beautiful and trustful smile. Then he faded away, so I turned with Derek and pulled his hand, “This way!” I said in a low voice so the women couldn’t hear us.

“Are you sure that’s the right way?” He asked doubtfully.

“Yes; trust me!”

We opened the door, and ran without even stopping to see where we were. And that was a bad idea, since there was no floor, so we fell to a hole. We fell on a bunch of autumn leaves–which was strange, since there were no trees around.

“Where are we now?” I said, looking around.

“You tell me, you said this was the right way!” Derek shouted.

“Well, it was the only one!”

Then we turned upward; there were those women, with mean faces, “Get them!” one cried out, all jumping to the hole.

“Run!” Derek shouted, standing up and pulling my hand, running.

“Those women are faster than us! They’re gonna get us!”

“Think, think, think!” Derek murmured.

I turned around, looking for the dark guy. He is like my angel; he saves me every time I’m in trouble, so he has to appear now!

And yes, there he was, far away. I shouted “help!” But that didn’t seem to help at all. He faded away… Why? Why didn’t he help me this time?

“Jamie, we can’t ask for help; there’s no one here but us and those freaks!” Derek said, pulling my hand even more, running faster.

Well, maybe if I’m in real danger, he’ll appear; so I don’t have to worry at all… right?

“Jamie, look;” Derek pointed at a big wall. “Those women are getting to us; you can cross this wall and stay safe at the other side.”

“But what about you?”

“I’ll be fine; maybe I can climb it up, if not, at least you’ll be safe. Don’t worry about me,” he smiled gently.

“No, Derek. We’re in this together; I won’t leave you alone.”

“Jamie, please. It’s the only way I can save you!”

“Then let’s both get caught, not just you…”

“Don’t be silly, please! I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“I don’t want you to get hurt either!”

He sighed, “We’ll never end this discussion before they caught us, so…” He placed his hands on my waist and pushed me upward the wall, “go to the other side!”

“No!” I cried, pulling his hand.

“Jamie, let go, please! I know it’s hard, but I want to keep you safe!”

Then, before I could demand, two cold hands placed on my waist, pulled me down to the other side of the wall. I turned my face once I was on the floor and saw the dark guy.

“What do you think you’re doing? I can’t leave Derek alone!” I cried out.

“You will even if you don’t want to… He’ll be okay… trust me…” he whispered coldly, pulling my hand.

I rudely apart my hand from his, “I won’t go anywhere without him! Especially with someone I don’t even know…”

He smiled with a light laugh, “Fine.” He just stayed arms crossed, not doing anything while I heard Derek’s screams.

“Derek!” I shouted worried, hitting the wall until my hands hurt like hell.

“You won’t help doing that, you know?” He said.

“Shut up!” I yelled at him, angry. “If you wouldn’t have pulled me down, I could’ve saved him!”

“Really? I don’t think so. Those women aren’t real women at all.”

“What do you mean?” I turned to face him.

“They’re not human…” He said, and then smirked. “Your friend is probably going to die soon,” he laughed lightly.

“What? What is so funny about it! You’re insane, you idiot! You need to help me, please!” I shouted, tears running down my cheeks. I couldn’t let Derek die… not this way… not in any way, actually. I need to save him.

“Idiot? Wow… I thought of you a kinder person,” he smiled. “Oh, well.”

“Could you at least for once show interest and help me right now?” I yelled at him, trying to climb up the plain wall.

He laughed again, “Yeah, of course you will get to the other side that way.”

“Shut up, I said!” I was even angrier. “I mean, what happened to that kind guy I met at school before? You were gentle with me, now you’re acting like a moron!”

“Idiot. Moron. Something else you want to add?”

“C’mon, you know why I call you like that!” my foot slipped on the wall and I fell to the floor. “At least help me get to the other side; I’ll do the rest myself.”

He laughed at the way I fell, “Okay, okay.” He helped me stand up and hugged me.

“Eh, how is this supposed to help? I didn’t ask for a hug. By the way, I’m freezing.”

He laughed once more, “You talk, talk, and talk. I like your attitude; you seem particularly interesting to me. You’re quite funny, you know?”

I sighed, “Sure, I’ve killed people of laughter before,” I said sarcastically. “Hey, are you trying to make me waste time so that Derek dies before I can stop them?”

“Maybe; maybe not.”

“Agh, get off me!” I struggled to get out of his hard arms.

“Fine; I’ll get you there,” then we started to rise up. I was in his arms still, while we were rising up to the other side of the wall. Then we land on the floor, still hugged; it was like if we were floating or something.

He finally released the hug and I said shocked, “What was that? How did you…? I mean…”

“Let’s just go find your friend,” he said coldly, pulling my hand as we walked.

“Do you even know where he is?”

“Do you even have to ask me this?” He said, imitating my tone, “I mean, of course I know,” he smiled.

“You know, your changes of moods are kinda getting me dizzy.”

“I’m sorry, I apologize for acting rude with you; just that… I don’t like him.”

“Who? Derek?”

“Yeah, is he your boyfriend?” He suddenly asked.

“Uh, no! But, honestly… I wish he was,” I blushed lightly.

“Right,” he said as he let go of my hand. “You should keep going yourself; I guess you don’t need me, or you’re just using me like an item.”

“No, wait! I’m not! But… hey, you started in first place,” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Start what?” He asked confused.

“You began acting rudely with me…”

“Oh, c’mon, Jamie…”

“How did you know my name?”

“Uh… I just… guessed it.”

“What’s your name, anyway?”

“Try to guess,” he grinned.

I didn’t say a word then, I just kept walking next to him. We were back where Derek and I were before: the little creepy house. He must be in there, with those women. I swallowed, nervously.

“Relax; you’ll be fine as long as you’re with me,” he said, squeezing my hand as we entered the house without knocking the door.

“Derek?” I shouted, but then the dark guy placed his hand on my mouth.

“Shhh… don’t even try to say a word,” he whispered. He led me to a room and we both eavesdrop behind the door. I could hear the women voices, but opening a little the door, I saw them; they looked fierce and dreadfully scary. Then I saw Derek tied up on a chair.

“Let me go right now!” Derek was shouting, while the others were laughing at him.

“How can we help him?” I whispered, but I guess loud enough for them to hear me.

The dark guy put his hand on my mouth once again and pushed me besides the door. One of the women opened the door rudely, looking around; and for our luck, the door was covering us on the side we were hiding. Then, the woman left and closed the door.

The dark guy sighed and whispered really low, “I said don’t speak!”

I just nodded in apologize and moved back where we were before. One woman was grazing Derek’s face with her hand, and the other one was threatening him with a knife on his neck.

“Tell us where the girl is!” the woman shouted.

“Never!” Derek yelled.

I placed my hand on my mouth, trying to keep a scream. Is it me who they are looking for? Of course, I’m the only girl who had been with him. I looked at the dark guy, waiting for him to say or do something. He took my hand and walked quietly out of that place, taking me to another room.

When he closed the door, I said in a low but shocked voice, “What are you doing? We have to save him!”

“Jamie, shut up!” He yelled; his tone of voice made my eyes go wet. He then saw my reaction and placed his hands on my shoulders, “No, no, please; sorry… I didn’t mean to…”

“Shut up…” I cut him. “I don’t have time for this; while we’re talking here, Derek is being threatened with those women. So, I’ll make this myself.”

I then walked out the door, running towards the room where Derek and the women were; I entered the room. The women turned to me with lighting eyes and Derek with worried eyes.

“Why, Jamie?” Derek said. “Why! They wanted you to come so that they could kill us both!”

“Why?” I asked confused. Then, the women were getting near me.

“No!” Derek shouted.

All their hands were getting near me; but before they could get me, a hand pushed them all away. I turned back and saw the dark guy with his hand stretched on air.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?” He said softly.

Then, the women thought I was the one who pushed them away; also Derek thought that, since they couldn’t see the dark guy. One of the women –who seem to be the youngest and more beautiful of the group, with long-golden curls and white dress–, left the room secretly, while the others stayed. I noticed that the woman who just left was staring not at me, but someone next to me: that is the dark guy. So that meant she could see him just as I can? Why?

“Whoa, Jamie?” Derek said surprised; I just shrugged.

The creatures, now angrier than before, ran over me; but my angel pushed them all away again. The women finally gave up and ran off before it could get worse and someone gets hurt.

Derek looked at me shocked, “How did you…?”

I turned to look at the dark guy, who just smiled and faded away. Then, I turned back at Derek while I untied him from the chair. “Uh, you know; when someone gets me mad, you don’t know how… powerful I might become.” I didn’t even know what I was saying; all the work was done by my angel.

“Whoa, Jamie; I didn’t know that side from you.”

I just smiled.

“Really, you looked really hot…” He then said.

I rolled my eyes, “Asshole.” I pulled his hand, “Let’s get out of here.”

“Should I trust you this time? Because maybe we can get caught again.”

“Derek, please; I just said let’s get out of here, I don’t know where to go.”

“Okay, as long as we’re outside this creepy house,” we walked towards the door and went out of the house. Everything was the same as before: foggy and blurry.

I looked around, and I saw a little kid standing right in front of me. He was wearing old, dirty clothes; he seemed like a poor child. When I turned to see Derek, he was gone.

“Derek?” I called, “Derek!”

“I’m lost…” The kid said, pulling my hand carefully.

I turned to see the kid and knelt to the ground to be like his size, “You can’t find your mother?”

“No; I’m lost… help me,” the kid said with a cute, innocent little voice.

“But, where could she be? I’m lost too,” I sighed.

“This way,” the kid pulled my hand, making me stand up, and started walking.

“Uh, but where are you taking me?”

The kid didn’t answer, just kept walking, pulling my hand. I felt some steps behind us, maybe Derek or maybe the dark guy.

“They’ve found us!” The kid cried, running this time; I ran faster too.

“Who? What are you talking about?” I said desperately.

The kid didn’t answer to my question again; but when I turned back, I saw a skinny man, wearing nothing but his pants, with a huge knife on his hand–huge as a sword–; his entire body was all tattooed, also his top part of the head, since he was bold. The man was running as well after us. He looked really scary! He could kill us at any moment, so we have to hide somewhere!

“Come, come!” The kid said, opening a door for me. We both entered the room and locked the door–which probably won’t help since the man could just break the door down.

I turned to see the room. For my surprise, it was completely empty. There were no windows, no bed, nothing; I turned to a corner where the kid was sitting, in front of an old TV; so that was the only thing inside this room. The kid was calmly watching TV in black & white, like if nothing had happened. I knelt beside the kid and asked him, “Why did you brought me here? What is this strange room?”

The kid didn’t answer again, just kept watching the TV. I shook his shoulder, “Hey, I’m talking to you, kid.”

Then, a hard knock on the door caught our attention. We both turned shocked; the kid hid behind the TV and I stayed completely alone, nowhere to hide.

“He found us!” The kid whispered.

“But, what do I do now?” I said shocked, looking around for somewhere to hide.

I heard a growl behind the door. The man is here, he will now slice me into pieces! I just stayed froze in place, tears running down my cheeks. Is it really over? What had happened to Derek? Who are this kid and this man? Where am I? … A lot of unanswered questions.

The man finally broke the door into half and entered the room. I just moved back hesitantly; the man moved forward with an evil grin. My back was already pasted on the wall. The man raised his knife, about to cut me into half. I just closed my eyes, waiting for the moment to die…

Nothing had happened then, so I opened my eyes and saw the weird man on the floor, unconscious. I looked in front and saw the dark guy, with a serious, scary face.

“What?” I asked hesitantly, looking at his cold face.

“What do you think you’re doing here? You almost died!” He yelled at me, coming near me taking my hand rudely, pulling me out the room.

“Wait, wait, wait…” I stopped him, “Why was he trying to kill me? And those women that ran off; why did they want from me?”

“Is not just you, but your friend also. Any human who comes to this place, always die… There’s no survivor; so you and your friend need to go out of here now.”

“How are we supposed to go out? You need to help us! And help me find Derek!”

“Yeah, well I don’t know how to get out; and I don’t know where your friend is, so…” He shrugged.

“So, now what? We just wait until someone comes and kill both of us?” I said with a serious tone.

“We can go find him first, then look for a way out. I won’t let anyone get near you… I’ll protect you no matter what it takes,” he placed his hands on my shoulder.

“Just one more question… What are you?” I said, looking at him afraid.

He sighed and let go his hands off my shoulders, “I’ll let you know later. Let’s go find your friend.”

“Okay… by the way, it’s easier if you just say ‘Derek’.”

“I don’t like to mention his name so much; he seems particularly disgusting to me,” he laughed.

“Alright…”

We walked out of the strange, little room. The outside was now clear: there was no fog, but sunlight; there was no coldness, but warmth; there was no darkness, but brightness, etc.

“So, why did the whole place changed?” I asked looking around.

“It’s a good signal. The weather changes depending on the situation,” he smiled. “The climate has never been like this before ever since the humans invaded this territory. Whoa.”

“So, that means Derek is alright!” I cheered up.

“We don’t know for sure; come on,” he pulled my hand again.

While walking, a little bunny jumped in the middle of the road.

“Oh, how cute!” I leaned down to touch him, but the dark guy pulled my hand back.

“Don’t touch him!” He dragged me again, walking straight.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been acting so rude with me. It was just a bunny!”

“This world is different from yours; maybe things look similar, but they’re not. Most likely, every cute stuff is dangerous, while awful are sometimes good.”

“That doesn’t make sense at all.”

“Neither this world does. Just keep walking, will you?” He pulled me again.

“Hey, I can walk by myself; stop pulling, you’re hurting me.”

“Sorry,” he pulled me now softly. “Better?”

I sighed. Then, I felt heavy steps behind us. I turned and saw what I think it was a huge rabbit. Was it the same bunny I saw just seconds ago? The dark guy pulled me from my waist and hid me behind a tree.

Once the rabbit was gone, he said rudely: “Could you be more cautious next time?”

“Sorry…” I said, angry by his attitude.

“Look, I’m sorry I’m being rude all the time, but it’s because I need to protect you and I can’t control myself when I do it. Sorry…”

I looked at his face; he looked even more beautiful when he was apologizing. “It’s okay, I understand.” I hugged him softly. He hugged me back, tightly.

“Let’s go find Derek…” he whispered in my ear.

“You said Derek,” I smiled.

“Damn… I guess I did,” he shrugged.

“C’mon, let’s go.” I released the hug.

We walked again on the road.

“So, what’s your story? What are you? Please tell me now, to have something to talk about while we find Derek,” I suggested him.

“Well… What am I?” He laughed lightly. “I’m dead; I’m a ghost, spirit… whatever you want to call it.”

I shocked, “W-what? But… how come I… but you…” I hesitated.

“Yeah, that’s why no one else can see me but you.”

“But why only me?”

“Something in you wants me near, so I’m bound to appear only for you.”

“But, I don’t feel like I want you near; don’t get me wrong, but I don’t feel it.”

“That’s what your brain says, but not what your heart says.”

“But… if you’re a ghost, how can I touch you? You’re solid.”

“It’s the same; because you want to touch me.”

“I don’t get it… So what’s the story? How did you die?” I changed the topic.

“It all started around the 19th century, in this same place. I told you, no human can escape without dying. I was a victim, and I died. There’s a creature more powerful than the ones we’ve just met. He was the one who killed me…” He said with a cold voice, then added with a whisper I barely heard, “In order to protect the one I loved…”

“You died in order to protect that person?”

“Yes. And that girl reminds me a lot of you; that’s why I want to be with you: to protect you, and not failing this time.”

“Oh… and, did the girl died?”

“I don’t know…I died without knowing a thing about her…”

“And… do you think the one who killed you has Derek on his hands right now?” I asked afraid of the answer.

“Maybe…”

“We have to hurry!” I shouted desperately.

“Let’s go then, with no regrets as before.”

We hurried this time; he knew the place where the creature that killed him was, so it will be faster.

I heard some giggles, and the dark guy seemed to have heard them too, so we both stopped and looked where the giggles came from.

It was Derek, sitting on a huge rock in the middle of a river. For now, he was fine. But… what?! Who are those women around him? Wait… they’re not normal women. They have fish tails! They’re mermaids? How strange everything is turning out. Anyway, what was he doing with those mermaids? They were really beautiful, and very showy: they only had a small bra… Damn, Derek pervert. Why was he laughing, by the way? I was about to shout, but then thought of what the guy next to me would do, so I stayed quiet.

“Umh… won’t you go for him?” He asked me. So what, now he wants me to shout?

“If it’s okay with you…” I turned with Derek and got near him, “Derek?”

“Whoa, Jamie! Hello girl; did you know my new friends? They’re awesome, and hot.” He said.

“You’re disgusting… C’mon, we gotta go now, or else it’ll be too late.”

“C’mon, don’t be a party pooper! We’re having fun, wanna join us?”

I was about to reply, but suddenly I saw one of the mermaids behind Derek showing two long fangs, and was about to bite Derek’s neck.

“A Vampire Mermaid!” the dark guy called.

“What? Uh…” I picked a rock from the ground and threw it to her face.

The mermaid screamed and swam away.

“What was that?” Derek demanded.

“She’s a Vampire Mermaid! Let’s go or they’ll kill you!” There was no way I could get through him; he was across the river, far away from me.

“What?” He now saw what I meant, the other two mermaids were about to bite him from both sides, “Jamie!” He shouted.

“Uh, hold on just a sec,” I said, and the dark guy took me to the rock where Derek was without him seeing us. “Derek!”

“How did you…?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I hit a mermaid with my fist and threw her away to the water, unconscious.

“Careful!” Derek called, and pushed the other mermaid away.

“Leave her to me!” I said, now angry. I threw myself into the water, with the mermaid struggling to get me off. We were underwater, fighting; hitting ourselves. She scratched my arm with her long fingernails. All my blood went to the top of the river, and I could imagine Derek and the dark guy terrified.

I kept fighting, but I was drowning now; I needed some air, but the mermaid pulled me deeper. Then, I was seeing all blurry. I could barely see a shadow pulling me to the surface, but I fell unconscious.

Once I woke up, I saw a beautiful angel very near me. I blinked twice, and finally saw the dark guy clearly. “What happened?” I asked, and then my arm burned. “Ouch, I’m bleeding; where’s the mermaid?”

“I killed her as well as the other ones. You almost died, what were you thinking? Fighting with a Vampire mermaid?”

“Sorry… Where’s Derek?” I said weakly.

“I had to hit him on the neck to save you without him noticing. He will wake up soon and have no idea of what had happened.”

“Oh… Thank you,” I smiled weakly. I just realized I was resting in the floor with him really close to me. I felt… a little uncomfortable.

“Umh… I think I feel much better now,” I said trying to get up, but the dark guy stopped me, letting me rest once again. He placed his hand on my forehead.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, but then my eyes closed without me wanting. After what felt like three seconds, I opened them in a shot. “…Ace…” I whispered.

He smiled softly, “Nice to meet you.”

I leaned forward, now on a sitting position, staring at him with curious eyes.

“Your name is Ace.”

“Yes,” he nodded once.

I shook my head confused, “How did I know?”

“Don’t worry; the thing is that you know my name now. Happy?”

“Not at all… I’m still confused… But at least I know your name; I won’t have to call you ‘dark guy’ or ‘angel’ anymore,” I laughed a little.

“You used to call me ‘angel’?” He suddenly asked.

I blushed lightly, “Umh, yes… You’re like my guardian angel; you’re always there for me…”

“You know, this reminds me of a song I’ve heard lately around your school… which didn’t exist in my times; is: ‘Your Guardian Angel’ or something like that.”

“Oh, I love that song… every time I hear it the first thing that comes through my mind is you…”

“Well… I know parts of the song, and I would like to sing it for you…” he whispered.

I smiled softly, but deep inside me, I wanted to scream. My favorite song… and he will sing it for me.

He stared deeply into my eyes and began to sing softly, with a voice even better than the original singer:

“When I see your smile tears roll down my face, I can’t replace… And now that I’m strong I have figured out how this world turns cold and it breaks through my soul, and I know I’ll find deep inside me, I can be the one…” He was following the same rhythm as the song, then took my hands and continued: “I will never let you fall; I’ll stand up with you forever; I’ll be there for you through it all, even if saving you sends me to heaven…” His hands ran from my hands all the way through my arms; now on my cheeks: “It’s ok… It’s ok… It’s ok…” His hands ran again down my arms; “Seasons are changing and waves are crashing and stars are falling all for us… Days grow longer and nights grow shorter; I can show you I’ll be the one… I will never let you fall; I’ll stand up with you forever; I’ll be there for you through it all, even if saving you sends me to heaven…” He stopped with a long, soft ending. I think he didn’t know the rest, but still… it was simply beautiful. I wanted to cry, and indeed I did; tears were running down my face. He stared at me with worried eyes that made me feel guilty; those eyes were absolutely beautiful and… I just realized they torn from bloody red to a sky blue, never seen before, but extremely beautiful…

“Why are you crying? Was it too bad?” He said with those sad and beautiful eyes.

I cleaned the tears from my face and hugged him tightly, “I loved it so much… I’m crying because it was absolutely beautiful… I can’t even speak, my throat is drying.”

He ran his hand several times through my hair, “its ok… my true love, my whole heart…” Those words were also part of the song, which were more beautiful than the original singer.

I released the hug and stared at him, “Your eyes are sky blue… the first time I saw them were bloody red.”

“They change to this color when I’m relaxed and feeling good… actually; it’s been like decades since they don’t turn this way… You have something special that made me change completely; ever since I died I desired revenge, but now when I met you all I could think about is you… I’m always worrying about you, and I feel like a new me when I’m with you; a me who does not want revenge but to feel happy… and I thank you for this…”

“You know you can always count on me to cheer you up and make you feel good. I’m sorry for calling you an idiot and a moron, by the way…”

“Don’t worry, I was acting like an idiot and a moron anyway; this all feels like a “Good-bye” or something… we’re apologizing for silly things,” he laughed softly.

“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t mad because I called you like that.”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing; your friend is about to wake up, and if he doesn’t see you, he’ll panic. Go with him, I’ll wait.”

He helped me stand up and I walked where Derek was resting. He looks cute when he’s sleeping… but not as cute as my Angel, my Ace…

I knelt to the ground besides him, when he started to open his eyes hesitantly, blinking.

“Jamie?” he said weakly. “Where am I?”

“Derek!” I said, “You hit yourself on the head; but don’t worry, you’re fine now,” I smiled.

I’ve considered… Ace is way nicer and gentle than Derek is; plus Derek has become a bit more pervert and idiot, while Ace is softer and pure; also, Ace is more beautiful than Derek… a lot more. However, Derek is still part of my life, so I want to be with him also and help him.

Derek laughed weakly, “what a stupid act of me… I just remember those mermaids. What happened to them?”

“Oh, they ran off,” I lied. “The good thing is you’re okay and that we need to get out of here.”

“I’m glad you’re okay, Jamie;” he suddenly said while standing up. He then hugged me, “I don’t know what would be of me if you disappear.” He released the hug.

I blushed lightly and shrugged, “well I’m alright; no need to worry at all.”

Ace was staring at us, and I could imagine he got mad when Derek hugged me, but he must know my heart belongs to him… well, rhetorically, since he’s death.

“Jamie, look over there,” Derek pointed with his finger to the north, were there was some dark smoke in the sky.

“Is something burning there?” I asked confused.

“We need to go to that place,” Ace said, now next to me.

“Why?” I whispered so Derek couldn’t hear me.

“There’s the exit from this place.”

“But you said there was no way out.”

“I…just remembered there is one,” he said hesitantly, like if he wasn’t sure of his words.

Anyway, I have to trust him, why should he lie to me? I then turned at Derek, “We need to go there.”

“Are you crazy? There must be danger over there! I can’t risk our lives there…”

“Trust me…”

“Last time you said that, I was caught by some strange women.”

“That was a mistake; but this time is real. Trust me… please.”

He realized I was completely sure in my eyes, “Fine.”

The three of us walked towards that place. It wasn’t so far; we had to cross the river again, then just a short path to get to a place which was foggy and scary. It was like a town, or which used to be a town: there were corpses lying on the ground; some covered with blood, others just injured; what used to be some small houses were all destroyed; every living thing in this strange world was death or unconscious.

Derek swallowed, “Jamie, this is a bad idea, let’s get out of here before we end up like those people!”

I stared at Ace and bit my lip, waiting for an answer.

“Let’s go on. The exit is in this town,” he said.

“Are you sure? Why are all these people–or creatures–death?” I whispered desperately.

“It’s nothing to worry about, trust me; let’s keep walking forward,” he said again with a worried tone.

I started to walk straight forward.

“Jamie! Are you crazy? I said let’s leave before we get killed!” Derek said freaking out.

I breathed deeply, worried as Derek was–and mistrustful, “I’m sure this is the way, don’t be afraid.”

He took my left hand the same time Ace took my right hand. At simple sight it was just me and Derek holding hands; but my vision was the three of us holding hands.

“Jamie, I’m afraid…”

“Don’t be. We’ll be fine,” I was just counting on Ace in this situation; he is protecting the two of us now.

“I’m not afraid of myself… I’m afraid that something could happen to you…”

“We’ll be fine as long as we stay together.”

Ace stopped walking, so I stopped too and Derek had to. I turned to see Ace, but he was looking in front terrified. I turned to see what he was staring at, and there was a young lady standing right in front of us, a little far away.

He had long-golden curls; a long ghostly, white dress, that seemed to be torn up from some edges; her eyes were pale blue, with no pupil; her hands were full of blood.

I just panic when I first saw her, so did Derek. I turned to see Ace once again, who seemed even more terrified than Derek and me together.

“Serena…” Ace whispered.

“Serena?” I stared at him confused.

Derek looked confused, “Serena? How did you know her name, Jamie?”

Serena giggled evilly and stretched her hand towards Derek’s eyes and a wave of air blew softly through Derek’s face.

“What was that? What did she do to you?” I said desperately.

Derek turned to face me, “Who’s the dark guy next to you?”

“What? Wait… you can see him now?” I said surprised.

“So, he’s the dark guy you always talked about at school?” Derek said surprised as I was.

“Yes!” I turned to face Serena, “What did you do to him? Why can he see him now?”

“Well, if he’s going to die;” she said, “he has to see the other ones who will die, too.”

Ace laughed, “I’m already dead.”

“I know; the two humans will die while I’ll make you disappear.”

“How will you do that?” Ace wondered.

Serena took out what seemed to be a gun; huge and gray with some green lights; “This gun was made specially to disappear ghosts. Once I shoot you, you will get caught and can never get out…”

“Why do you want me to disappear? I mean, what happened to the girl you used to be when I was alive?” Ace said with a sad voice.

“She changed in order to stay alive, and not ending up like you.”

“I gave my life for you! I took the risk in order to protect you…”

“Well, you were so stupid trusting in someone like me,” Serena raised the gun, pointing at Ace. “Good-bye, Ace…”

“Wait,” Ace said.

“What do you want now?”

“Please… I beg you: let Jamie and Derek go, and get rid of me… please.”

“I said I’ll get rid of the three of you.”

“Please… I beg you.”

“Well…Derek, you said? Well, he could be a nice partner; what do you think?”

“What?” Derek said confused.

“But let Jamie go, please,” Ace begged.

“Hmmm… I don’t think so; is she your new lover? Because I will kill her,” Serena said coldly.

“No!” Ace shouted, angry.

“Derek’s a cute guy… I’ll consider letting him go. But you, Ace, and your new lover will disappear…”

“I don’t get it; what are you talking about?” Derek said confused.

“Oh, don’t worry… you’ll be fine,” Serena said, getting near him and grazing her hand on his face. “But the other two will be gone!” She hit Derek on the neck and let him fall.

“Derek!” I shouted.

“Don’t worry; I said he’ll be fine; I’ll let him go. But you’re going to die. But Ace is first, so to make your death more suffering, I’ll make him disappear!” She then thought for a moment, “Umh isn’t it otherwise? Killing her first so that Ace suffers more?” She shrugged, “It’s the same; I already took out my ghost gun.”

She raised the gun again, pointing at Ace. Ace looked at me with sad eyes and then closed them, waiting for the moment in which he’ll disappear forever. I couldn’t let him go; I have to do something! …I don’t care about the consequences; I don’t care if something happens to me…

Without thinking it twice, I ran for Ace, stood up in front of him and raised my arms to the sides, in a protective way. Before Ace could push me away, the green laser that Serena shot from her gun hit me straight on my heart… I fell to the floor.

A big amount of blood was draining from my chest to the sides. Ace screamed my name desperately; Serena fell backwards because of the impact; Derek was still unconscious…

“Jamie!” Ace knelt to the ground and placed his hands on the edges of my face. “Jamie!”

I tried to smile, but I gave an effortless smile; “Ace…”

“Jamie! Why did you do that! Don’t leave me, please… Don’t.”

I raised my hand weakly to touch his face carefully, “I won’t ever leave you… I got hit by the gun, but it was not a mortal gun; so maybe it won’t affect me as a human…”

“But you don’t know that, maybe it has other effects towards humans!”

Serena hit her head hardly, so she was hurt and couldn’t get up; “Yes it has an effect on humans… This gun is extremely powerful that can catch ghosts; and its power can kill humans.”

“What? No!” Ace shocked. “Jamie, no…no!”

“Ace…” I said weakly, “I’m dying…for love; like you did… remember?”

“But this is different, Jamie!”

“No” I cut him; “If I die, I can live with you forever…”

“What do you mean? Oh, don’t tell me you–”

I nodded.

“Jamie…”

My eyes were closing; my breathing was ceasing; the last words I could say were: “Even if saving you sends me to heaven… I love you, Ace…” Everything turned inky black…

Derek’s P.O.V.:

I was opening my eyes slowly. I leaned forward into a sitting position; my head hurt a lot. Huh? I turned to my left side and saw the blonde girl on the floor, with some blood draining through her chest and mouth. She’s probably dead now… I turned to my right side and saw… No… no, no, no… NO!

“Jamie!” I shouted. Her body was lying on the floor, with blood draining from her chest.

I ran towards Jamie and knelt next to her. I leaned my head over her chest to see if her hearts was still beating… No, is not…

“Jamie!” I shouted once again, hugging her corpse. “Why!”

As I was hugging her, I realized the dark guy had left… How in the world could he leave Jamie dead here!

I carried Jamie’s corpse and started to walk straight. There was a white, potent light right in front; I suppose that’s the exit. I walked straight through that light and everything turned white.

Seconds later, I found myself at the school’s backyard (it was snowing, so no one came to school today) Hmmm… it’s really weird; it’s middle autumn and it had never snowed in years.

Days passed by really fast; Jamie’s body was buried on the state’s cemetery. I had become a really empty and serious person since Jamie’s death. Her best friend, Nicky, was the same. We all were the same…

Everyone asked me what happened to her; but if I tell them the truth they won’t ever believe me, so I say I don’t know. Her parents are crying and crying, wondering why she died… I feel really bad for keeping to myself the reason why she died, but it’s insane… I’m already freaking out, I can’t believe she died! Jamie… I would like to see her again… just one more time… see her beautiful face and delightful smile… Oh, Jamie…

I didn’t feel like going to History class, so I stayed at the hallways, sitting on the benches. I covered my face with my hands, trying to calm down, but I couldn’t. Jamie…

I looked up and a miracle happened… Jamie was there in front of me… I couldn’t believe it, she was there! As beautiful as always, smiling… Oh, what a beautiful vision… only if it was real…it’s just my imagination…

She stretched her hand all over to my face, touching it softly; her hands were extremely cold, but warm at the same time. Wait, I could touch it, so that means she’s real.

“Jamie…” I grabbed her hand softly, kissing it carefully. “I really miss you… Why did you leave me?”

“Derek, I love you… but my heart belongs to Ace…” She whispered.

I sighed, “That’s too bad… I love you too and I wanted your heart so badly…”

“You have it…” She said as she faded away slowly.

“I love you…I hope you come back again…”

She smiled and disappeared.

“Jamie…”

Sometimes we give everything,

Even our own lives, for love;

Sometimes we don’t realize

That true love we find it inside our hearts…

Everyone’s afraid to die,

But dying is not an ending,

Is a new beginning for life…

So this story does not have a happy ending… at least not for everyone; Derek finally realized Jamie was her true love, but Jamie just realized that her true love was Ace. So this story shows how someone died for love, not caring about consequences… Jamie went to heaven with the one she loved, making this the saddest situation Derek and everyone will have to endure… Ace finally has someone to be with after a long century of loneliness and sorrow; while his old love Serena died too, but instead she went to hell as a punishment for the things she’d done… It’s a happy ending for Jamie and Ace, but a pain for the rest… Now, this shows how people in heaven enjoy life more than the ones on Earth, just suffering…

The End.

The Gathering of Clouds

Written By:caffeineaddict13
You can read the original here:
All credit goes to the original author

- one -

There is a story that hasn’t been told. Not yet.

In the desert, a girl holds her mother’s hands and whispers as the sun appears from behind the endless hills, tinted orange from sand and streaming red like the scars that will one day trace her body.

“You know what they say about red skies,” her mother says, and begins to hum softly in the heat.

The girl doesn’t know, but she doesn’t say this out loud. There is some part of her that realizes that a storm is coming, and when the hairs stand up at the back of her neck, she tries her best to ignore it.

Eventually, though, all storms have to break.

Eventually, all stories need to be told.

She closes her eyes and listens to the sea begin to turn.

--

Dreaming, dreaming, I’m dreaming, I’m dead, it’s building, falling, crashing –

- two -

In the dark, everything seems more real. Monsters hide between hanging coats in the closet, underneath the shiny pink of a comforter, in between the baskets of laundry sitting on the floor.

Whispered secrets are often more binding when they are told in the dark. This is one reason why it’s so easy to trust Edward Cullen.

The lights go out, but Bella doesn’t hold her breath. She puts her arms out and feels the walls, cold under her touch, her heart beating like a rabbit running from its predator as night falls in the woods.

Edward takes her hand in his, tells her stories that only exist in the books she no longer reads. And because it is so dark, she believes him.

Eventually, she will look back on that moment and try to recall the difference between monsters and dreams. They twist together now more than ever, and when the definition becomes something she can no longer understand, she will stick the phrase to other things and call it a day.

- three -

Jacob gives her a Bright Eyes CD for Christmas, the year the sun starts to rise again.

Just get me past this dead and eternal snow, it says, ‘cause I swear that I’m dying, slowly but it’s happening.

She thinks it funny that, ironically, the dead are what keep her alive.

And say, and lie to me, and say, and lie to me, and say it’s going to be alright.

“If winter ends,” Jacob tells her, sitting on the edge of his car, “I’ll take you home.”

“I give myself three days to feel better,” Bella smiles, and lets him hold her, but she thinks that maybe he’s missing the point.

- four -

Back in Arizona, there is a different boy. He has brown hair and a pretty mouth and he doesn’t know about the magic that exists between the places that normal people tread.

He does, however, remember being ten years old and lonely. He remembers a girl with big brown eyes telling him that he was beautiful. And now there is a place in his heart that he keeps for her, wherever she is – a place where she can come back to, even if she doesn’t realize it’s there.

The girl doesn’t know about the people she has touched. Some part of her needs to be loved – the same way that all people do – and on the nights when she misses the desert and her mother’s voice, it beats in the same tune as the quiet boy in Phoenix.

--

“I don’t believe in ghost stories,” she says.

“Well,” he replies, “I’m no ghost.”

- five -

Bella remembers a perfect day as the days she spent with Edward. In the calm of the storm, the perfect silence of greys and blues before all hell breaks loose, she cannot imagine anything better.

It is one of these such days, her head lying in Edward’s lap, his fingers cool on her forehead, that her filter is suddenly shut off.

“I worry about Charlie sometimes,” she says, a mouse’s voice that she knows he can hear. “He stares at the oven when I’m cooking like he’s imaging someone else. And he’s so alone all the time – if it weren’t for Billy Black he wouldn’t even have any friends. He’s…isolated.” Bella blushes, hiding her face in the folds of Edward’s shirt. “I’m probably imagining some of it,” she whispers. “But it’s there all the same.”

The hundred-year-old boy presses his lips against her forehead. “I wouldn’t be too concerned, love,” he tells her. “It sounds like you, I suppose. And you’re certainly not alone.”

The sky cracks – and, just for a second, Bella is small again, lost in the thunder. It doesn’t take long for the rain to clear, but she will never forget what it feels like to drown.

- six -

Sometimes, in the after-days of her eclipse, when the push-pull of lovers becomes too much, Bella imagines what it would be like.

Had she stayed with her mother and Phil.

Had she never met Edward Cullen, and never gotten broken.

Had Jacob Black never pieced her back together.

Had Edward stayed away, oblivious to the destruction he had caused.

Had the world stopped turning the precise moment she realized that she was stuck between two goods – because it would probably be easier if it were two evils, instead.

She imagines Pandora’s box, only it’s backwards. She holds twin cases in her hands – one gold in the sunlight, the other silver in the dark. She opens them on the count of three and she is rich and beautiful and famous – until she reaches the end, and she has to make a choice.

That, she realizes, is the hope. The phantom left over when everything else is gone: silent, unassuming, and, eventually, the most important piece of it all.

Decision.

--

I keep searching the streets for that blood-wine battleship she drives with a weak battery, and the doors hanging from broken hinges…

- seven -

“Heat,” Bella replies honestly, when Jacob asks her what she misses most about her old home. He chuckles, takes her hand and presses it against his forehead.

“It’s your lucky day, then,” he says.

“I scream for sunlight,” she breathes softly, more to herself than to him. Jacob hears anyway – he lifts her head up till their eyes meet under the shadows of the garage.

“I’ll take you there,” he tells her.

She doesn’t have the heart to tell him she’s already arrived.

She thinks: I know that’s impossible now.

She thinks: Just get me out of here.

She whispers, “Lie to me.”

- eight -

There is a story that hasn’t been told.

In the aftermath of a storm, there is a girl. She’s hard to pick out among the wreckage, sunken in piles of rotting wood and weather-beaten houses and broken glass and the bodies of those that didn’t survive. She is there, however – if you look hard enough.

This is the girl that was once never able to be alone. Once upon a time, she was loved, held, coveted – and, in the end, it wasn’t the storm that made this all disappear.

There is a girl who is broken and beaten and torn. Her hair is chopped short and her skin pallid, her face is sunken and her eyes shift uneasily around the ruins.

There is a girl – not a lover, a mother, a friend, a savior, a conscience; just a girl – who stood in the eye of the storm. And there is a girl who walked away.

She opens her eyes and watches as the sea begins to turn again.