Chapter Text
A revamp (if you'll permit the pun) of an old, like 10 years old, WIP fic. Bear with me. Point of views will vary. If they're unmarked, that is Kelly's POV.
I couldn't say my life had been exactly lonely. I suppose I'd never really craved companionship, not like most kids my age. An introvert, I guess, happier removed from my peers, politely detached. We had things in common, of course, TV shows and music and overbearing parents, and a few boys stuck out here and there, cute and fun, always good for dinner and a movie, but I didn't have many real friends. Or any, now that I thought about it. How depressing.
It wasn't until I'd lost everything that I knew what true loneliness was, that I'd realized how good a life I'd had, how much love I'd actually been showered with. Hindsight and all. That's how it usually went, wasn't it? Don't know what you have til it's gone, right? Thanks Joni, we get it.
But how could I have foreseen what my life- such as it was- would become? I was content, I was happy. I was an only child, and though I had the random, infrequent wishes for siblings, it was nice being the only child. I was lavished with more gifts, more attention, more opportunities than I would have been had there been other kids around. I was lucky.
My life was perfect, as close to it as was humanly possible.
Except for, you know. The whole massacre thing.
oooo
Alice POV
It was weird- nope, scratch that. It was scary to see Emmett like this. He hadn't cracked that adorable, boyish smile in months, and hadn't truly laughed in what must have been years, and it was starting to really irritate me. Not that time really mattered, what was a few decades here and there when you had forever before you? But we'd all been so used to Emmett's cheerfulness, to his blatant enthusiasm for life. He'd taken to being a vampire like none of us had, and here he was, competing with Edward for Washington's Most Angsty. So annoying.
So, needless to say, my anger with Rosalie- unabated even now- was actually increasing by the second. So, why the unceasing long face for Em? Why hadn't any of us mentioned Rosalie's name in more than a hushed whisper for months?
Because Rosalie was selfish and hateful and ungrateful and-
Okay, not the most helpful explanation. Rosalie had always hated what we were, had always hated that Carlisle turned her. She could never actually hate Carlisle, of course, but resenting him was a different story. She was in love with her past, clung so clearly to the memories of her human life that even now, decades after she should have died, she couldn't let it go. Couldn't let the fact that she would never be a mother go. She wanted, more than anything, more than even true love, to have a baby. To conceive and carry and give birth and nurse and raise and love- and yeah, I kind of understood. I didn't remember my human life at all, not even a glimpse, so I didn't know if that's something I had been, or something I had wanted. This life, with my family, mattered more than anything else to me.
But with Rose, well, nothing was good enough. She'd had decades with Emmett, and it just...didn't fit the bill anymore. So, she'd left. Up and left and promised Emmett she'd return "someday", return with answers, with hope, for a child of their own. The thing was, though, that Rosalie didn't realize what she had under her nose, not until it was gone.
And between us (and Edward, no escaping him, sadly)? Rosalie was about to lose it all.
Forever.
oooo
I only had a name to go on, the name of an aunt I hadn't seen since I was a newborn. There'd never been Christmas cards or family newsletter updates, either, not from her or anyone on my mom's side of the family, so I had no idea what I was walking into. A name, Maureen Weber, with an address in Forks, Washington. I'd only been to that part of the country once, with my parents on a camping trip, but I recalled a breathtaking coastline, towering pines, a crashing ocean. There were worse places to be heading.
My caseworker, Angel, informed me that Maureen and her daughter would be picking me up from Sea-Tac airport and we'd be driving to my new home. Angel would leave me in my aunt's custody, and I'd seen her again in a few months for a check-in. Because I was underage, and because of the...unpleasant circumstances of my previous behaviors (I'd tried to run away from various foster homes they'd stuck me in while searching for my relatives), Angel was keeping a tight leash on me, but she didn't need to worry. We'd boarded the plane first and I was able to closely analyze every passenger, every flight crew that was coming and going until take off. I hadn't seen her, hadn't seen flaming hair and crimson eyes, and I could, for the next few hours anyway, collectively relax. For once.
The flight passed, the hours seeming so short, the inflight snack of peanuts and a dinky cup of sprite doing little to satisfy any real hunger or thirst. I shuddered as I realized this must have been what she felt like...one human life had not been enough to sate the need...
"Ready? Here's your bag." Angel tossed me my backpack, and I blinked and looked around. She was leading me down the jetbridge, into the terminal. Sea-Tac, though it was nearing nine PM, was crowded and buzzing with noise. I let out a sigh. In the confusion of so many people, had anyone, any...thing...followed me here, it would be fairly easy to lose them, even if only for a few seconds, to give Angel a chance to get away...
"Ah, there they are!" Angel was pointing past me, but I wasn't looking at my aunt and cousin, who I saw waving enthusiastically out of the corner of my eye. I was looking, with a mixture of horror and fascination, at a group of people so perfectly beautiful it was impossible. Impossible, except I'd seen superhuman beauty like this, once before. First, a tiny, thin girl, her hair wildly cut, a tall blond boy next to her with a surly expression on his face, as though he detested crows...and then him. Muscular, brown haired, dimples easily seen from across the room. I couldn't say what drew my gaze to him above all the others- they were all the same thing, I knew, knew all too well. The pale skin, the litheness and poise they had even when standing still, their otherworldly good looks. And yet I noticed something else, too, something about their eyes. Not burning red, made with bloodlust but a warm brown, like melted caramel.
The tiny girl said something and the two boys laughed. The brown-haired boy flashed a smile, and I felt myself weaken at the sight of it, butterflies hammering against my ribcage. That was a real smile, I was sure of it. It was adorable and handsome at the same time, the kind of gesture that would make anybody feel welcome, even if the smile wasn't aimed at them. He looked up, then, his eyes meeting mine for a fraction of a second.
That's all it takes, you see, for your world to crumble around you.
Angel tugged on my arm, pulling me towards my aunt and cousin. I glanced back, but the boy wasn't looking at me anymore, instead focused on two new people to join the group, a man with slicked blond hair and an extremely kind face, and a woman, who though she possessed the same traits of those around her, was much more human, somehow, soft and beautiful and just as kind as the man she held hands with.
I chuckled darkly at how my life was beginning to play out like a B horror film, then turned to greet my new family. My new life.
oooo
Emmett POV
I was all bullshit, if you ask me. I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted to betray Rose, not like she'd betrayed me. Not that I actually had. All I did was look at that girl. Smell her.
I guess that's all it takes for your world to crumble around you.
Alice was annoying about the whole damn thing, big shocker. "She looks nice," She kept saying, "we should introduce ourselves. She's going to Forks- that's the Webers, Angela you know? From school?"
Jasper shrugged, indifferent either way. He was pissed about being here, because he hated being reminded that he was weak, as he seemed to be much more thirsty than the rest of us around all these humans. He didn't need to worry, though. I'd told him I'd sock him in the face, maybe rip off a limb or two, if he made a move toward anybody.
"Really though, she looks cool." Alice said, looking over one more time at the girl.
She probably was, for all I knew. But more than anything, to me, she looked lonely.
oooo
"And this is your room," Angela said, showing me into the room off of the front door. "If you don't like it you can change what you want. We just figured it'd be nice for you to have your stuff out."
Once the Webers had been located, I'd shipped most of my stuff out to them. It wasn't much, a few things I'd collected since my parents had died, but I had a few books, a favorite blanket, some clothes. The room was considerably small, but I didn't need much space. A double bed was pushed against the wall below the window, a desk on the opposite side of the room. My books were stacked neatly on a shelf above the desk, and in the tiny closet I could see my clothes hung up.
"Thanks," I said, not sure how to respond. It'd been a while since anybody had done something nice for me.
Angela seemed to understand. She smiled. "No problem. Tomorrow I'll take you around town, if you want. And on Monday, we have some classes together, so I'll do my best to show you around school. You can meet my friends, they're all great. I think you'll really like them."
I shrugged. "Sounds good." I said noncommittally. It wasn't that I was ungrateful for Angela's kindness and willingness, not by any means. I was finally home, for the first time in so long. But it had come with a price, and I was irritated, angry, and despite all of that, despite my bloody past, my bloody nightmares, I was curious. Curious about the vampires who had seemed so normal, who had been around hundreds of people without batting an eyes.
Goddamn vampires, I thought, following Angela down to the kitchen, where Maureen had set a very late dinner on the table. For once, though, I wasn't thinking of carnage and curly hair like fire. No, I was thinking of warm butterscotch eyes and a smile to brighten any day.