Redemption

You seem to have a good command of "author's voice;" you are maintaining a mood highly consistent with the "official" Twilight novels.
 
They both turned and looked at me and smiled.

“How are you feeling?” Bella asked, carefully hugging me.

“I’m fine, just a little tired.” I lied. I felt horrible.

“That’s good, I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

I forced a smile and walked into the living room and laid down on the couch. Bella and Edward were making dinner in the kitchen. I could hear them talking quietly. Something was going on, I just wish I knew what.

I spent the rest of the night sitting on the couch. Bella and Edward finished dinner then Edward left, right before Charlie got home. I wonder if Edward had gotten in trouble with Charlie. Bella brought me my dinner, she refused to let me get up. Dinner was good but I wasn’t very hungry. Charlie spent the rest of the night watching football or something. I wasn’t paying that much attention to it. Bella helped catch me up on homework and study for the history test tomorrow.

I stared up at the ceiling. I had been staring at it for hours, it was impossible to sleep. Every time I closed me eyes I saw that face. The deathly pale skin, the red hair, and those eyes. I would never be able to forget those eyes. I took a few deep breaths, trying to get that image out of me head, as I looked a the clock. 2 am. Great.

The floor was colder than I thought it would be. I walked over to the closet and grabbed another blanket. Why was it so cold in here? A cold breeze sent shivers through me. I thought I closed the window. Where was the cold air coming from? I flicked my desk lamp on and froze. She was standing there. Right in front of my open window. Her hand clamped over my mouth before I could scream. She cocked her head to the side as she stared at me. “Human.” Something about the way she said it made me shiver, it almost sounded like a question instead of a statement. I had to get away from her. I reached for the lamp but she was faster. She pinned my arm behind my back before I could blink. She was going to kill me. I could see it in her eyes. But why? What had I done to deserve this? She suddenly tensed, her grip on my arm tightened as her eyes flashed to the window. She hissed something under her breath then vaulted out of the window. I stood still. My feet frozen to the floor. I forced myself to move closer to the window. I looked out. She was gone. Why did she leave so suddenly? I leaned out my window a little to get a better look and froze. There was a huge wolf. Just like the ones I had seen in the forest, sitting below my window. I stared at it for a moment, it was goldish brown and had long fur. Was that why she left?​
 
I almost jumped when the wolf suddenly started moving towards the edge of the forest. It stopped at the edge and turned slightly. It looked straight at me. I stared back, unable to move. Was it…smiling? I blinked and it was gone, as if it had never been there. Had I imagined the whole thing?

Someone was knocking, no, pounding on my door What was going on? My eyes slowly opened and I looked around. My gaze stopped on the clock. I had ten minutes until I had to leave for school.

“I’ll be right there,” I hollered to whoever was pounding on my door. It must have been Bella, Charlie would have already left for work. I jumped up and winced as all the pain suddenly came flooding back. It subsided slightly after I put the sling on but something still hurt. I pulled the sleeve of my long sleeve shirt up and looked at my wrist. There was a bruise in the perfect shape of the hand that had gripped it last night. So I hadn’t imagined it. At least I knew I wasn’t crazy. I pulled my sleeve down, grabbed my back pack and headed down stairs.

Bella was waiting for me, with Edward. They were literally inseparable. He must be driving us to school. Fabulous. It looked like Bella was about to complain about my going to make us late, but she stopped. Did I look that bad? I must.

“Let’s go,” I mumbled , aware that Bella was staring again. The door opened right before I reached it. Alice was standing there with Jasper. What were they doing here?
“Chloe,” Alice stepped inside and hugged me. Because of the sling I couldn’t really hug anyone, which gave me an excuse not to hug her back and it gave me time to recover from the shock of her hug. “I’m so glad you’re home. We are having a little party tonight, with games and a movie.”

“You should come,” Jasper said from behind her. I stared at them both for a minute.

“Yeah, sure, if it’s ok with Charlie.” Why were they suddenly being so nice to me?

Alice talked the entire way to school, which thankfully meant that I didn’t have to say anything. Bella said something about having fun in class as I got out of the car but I didn’t pay attention. The whole morning was a blur. Nothing the teachers said registered in my brain. I couldn’t stop thinking about the wolf and those red eyes.

I took a deep breath as I walked into the cafeteria, Bella and the Cullens were waiting for me. Great. I slowly walked towards them, I could feel everyone staring at me. Everyone wanted to know what happened to me, how I got hurt. I couldn’t tell them, I couldn’t tell anyone.​
 
I slowly walked towards them, everyone was staring at me. Why couldn’t they just stop? Was everyone waiting for me to have a nervous break down or something? I didn’t notice until I got closer than Jessica, Mike, Angel, and all there friends were sitting with Bella, Edward, Alice, and Jasper. When did that start? I thought that everyone disliked the Cullens. I sat down beside Bella.

“How are you feeling?” She asked quietly, what was with the whispering?

“I’m fine,” I lied. How did she think I was? She pushed a tray of food in front of me.

“We got lunch for you.” I looked from the tray of food to her. How much did they think I could eat? I would never eat all of it.

“Thanks,” I said, smiling faintly. I started eating my apple sauce, Jessica was talking about something, maybe prom.

“You’re going, right?” I looked up, Mike was talking to me.

“Going where?” I asked, confused and still thinking about last night.

“Prom,” he said smiling. I blinked. He was asking if I was going to prom? Why? I opened my mouth to say no, but Alice was faster.

“Of course she is,” I glared at her. I was not going to prom. I glanced back at Mike, he was smiling. If he thought that I would ever go with him he was crazy. I was not going. I finished eating my food, ignoring the rest of the conversation. I would talk to Alice later.
By time I finished eating my food the only people left at the table were the Cullens and Bella. Edward and Jasper were whispering about something. “We need to get to class,” I said quietly. They all turned to look at me, like they were surprised I could speak. Why did Alice look at me like that? Like I confused her and made her angry at the same time. I stood up and grabbed my back pack. I was not going to be late for class. Jasper jumped up and reached for my bag. His hand brushed mine. It was cold, ice cold. Just like hers had been. I dropped my bag, he grabbed it before it hit the floor. I stared at him. Confused and slightly scared. Who were they?

“We should get to class,” I said, slightly quieter. I grabbed my jacket as they got up. Edward seemed tenser than he had been just moments ago. Had he noticed my sudden mood change? I took my bag from Jasper, being careful not to touch him, and headed to class.

Alice and Bella were waiting for me outside my last class. “Hi,” I said, wondering why they were there.

“Ready to go?” Bella asked as she took my bag.

“Yeah,” Alice must be taking Bella and me home. That would give me time to come up with a good reason as to why I couldn’t go to the party tonight.

“Great,” Alice said, smiling. I followed Alice and Bella to Alice’s car. Edward’s car was gone. They must have left early. But why? School wasn’t that bad. Maybe it was because of the party Alice was having tonight. My musing continued as I got in the car and closed my door. Alice said something about the party, but I was thinking about the wolf again. It had been huge. I didn’t know wolves got that big.​
 
Where were we going? We should have been back by now. I looked out my window and stared. We were driving down a long, tree lined, drive way to a huge white mansion.

“Where are we?” I asked quietly, though I thought I already knew the answer.

“My house,” Alice said smiling. “Bella called Charlie before lunch and he said that it was fine if you came.” I sighed inwardly. That meant spending all night with them, but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, maybe I’d get some questions answered.

“You’ll get to meet Emmet and Rosalie.” I looked at Bella. Who were Emmet and Rosalie? “They are Alice’s older siblings, they’re on break from college,” she said. Answering my unspoken question. Well this should be fun. Alice stopped and got out. How was it possible for someone to be that graceful? I shook my head and got out, following Bella and Alice up the steps to the front door. This was a bad idea, I could feel it. I should have insisted on being taken home. I shouldn’t be here. But it was a little late to run now, Alice opened the door. She walked in, Bella right behind her, and me slowly following. I closed the door behind me and looked around. It wasn’t what I expected. It was very open and there were windows everywhere. But it was still cozy. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. I took a deep breath, there was that smell again. The same smell that had been in Bella’s room.​
 
“You made it.” I looked up, Jasper had walked in with a tall guy, who looked like a football player, behind him. I smiled faintly. Bella grabbed my hand and pulled me closer.

“Chloe, meet Emmet, and that is Rosalie.” I looked over to the door as a tall blonde walked in. I couldn’t help but stare. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, come to think of it, all the Cullens are incredibly good looking.

“Bella,” I turned slightly, walking down the stairs was Dr. Cullen and another beautiful woman.

“Esme,” Bella walked over and hugged her. That must be Mrs. Cullen. “Its so good to see you,” Bella said as she pulled me over. “Chloe, this is Esme.” I couldn’t help but smile, it was hard not to like her.

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” I said. She seemed nice. Nicer than most of her children.

Esme smiled, “please, call me Esme.”​
 
I followed Bella, Alice, Esme, Carlisle, and Jasper into what must have been the living room. There were board games sitting on the floor next to a stack of DVD’s. I glanced around the room quickly, it was nice, very comfortable, but something seemed…odd.

I spent the next three hours, laughing, playing games, and getting to know the Cullens. They were not what I had expected. I had expected them to be arrogant and maybe a little condescending. They were so different from what I had expected, and everyone else for that matter. They all seemed to like me, except for Roselie and Alice. Roselie had maybe said two words to me all night and Alice seemed to always be watching me when I wasn’t looking. At least Edward had mostly stopped staring at me and Bella seemed more relaxed. Maybe I had judged them all unfairly.

“Would you like to see the rest of the house?”

I looked up at the sound of Jasper’s voice. He was standing in the door way, and I wasn’t the only one staring at him. The other’s had expressions ranging from anger to confusion. Wasn’t I allowed to see the rest of the house. I stood up.

“sure, a tour would be nice,” I followed him out of the room and up the stairs in the hall. I listened as he showed me the paintings on the wall and explained what they were of and where they were from, but I couldn’t help but if he wasn’t supposed to be showing me this. Jasper stopped in front of double wooden doors.

“Can I ask you something?” I asked as he pushed the doors open and I followed him inside. It was an office, it must be Carlisle’s. I looked around the office as Jasper closed the door behind me. There was a huge wooden desk on one side of the room, the back wall was a floor to ceiling book self, and on the right wall was art work.

“Of course,” Jasper said as he walked over to the paintings. I followed him to get a better look.

“Why are you so much nicer to me than everyone else?” I asked before I could stop myself. I glanced at the large painting on the center of the wall while I waited for him to answer, it looked like it was from the eighteen hundreds, possibly the seventeen hundreds.

Jasper was laughing, “I wouldn’t say I’m much nicer. The others are just being careful, that’s all. They do like you Chloe.” I almost asked careful of what but something in the painting captured my attention. The one man in the painting looked exactly like Carlisle. I stepped closer to get a better look. My eyes drifted to the man next to him. I felt my blood turn cold…I knew that face.

“Can we go back down stairs? I’m suddenly not feeling well,” I asked as I stepped back. I could feel Jasper staring at me.

“Of course,” he quickly opened the door and lead me back to the steps. I could feel my heart slowly starting to return to its normal pace. How could he have been in the painting? I followed Jasper down the steps and into the living room. Edward and Bella were sitting on the couch discussing something, Bella didn’t look happy. They looked up as we walked in.

“Chloe isn’t feeling well,” Jasper explained. I could feel him looking at me again. They were all looking at me.

Bella stood up, “we can go.” She walked over to him, Edward following closely. “I’ll drive,” he said, grabbing my coat and helping my to put it on.

“Thank you for having me,” I said to Esme, trying my best to force a smile.

She smiled back, “you are welcome anytime Chloe, I hope you will come back soon.”

I nodded and followed Bella and Edward outside to Edward’s Volvo. I got in the back and closed my eyes. I tried to block out their voices as Edward drove, he was saying something about Florida.

The car stopped. I slowly opened my eyes as my door opened. Edward helped me out, I was careful not to touch his skin. I glanced at Bella, she was staring at me. Did I look sick? I followed them to the door, glancing around. It felt like someone or something was watching me.

Bella opened the front door, I followed her and Edward inside. I could hear the television. Charlie was watching football.

“your back early,” Charlie said as he stood up and walked into the hall.

“Chloe started to feel sick,” Bella explained as she closed the door behind us. Charlie turned is attention to me.

“I’ll be fine,” I insisted, “I’m just gonna go lie down.” Charlie nodded, though he didn’t look convinced. “Thanks for driving us home,” I said to Edward then walked up stairs to my room.

I spent the next several hours sitting on my bed, waiting for the wolf to appear. But it never did. Had I imagined it? Had I imagined everything that I’d been through the past few days? No, no I hadn’t imagined it. There was a crazy woman with red hair who had tried to kill me. Wait, what was that? I leaned out of the window slightly, something had moved in the trees. It was the wolf. It was staring at me again, I stared back. I needed to get closer. I grabbed my shoes and looked at the wolf again, I had to get closer.

I silently walked out of my room, down the steps, and into the kitchen. I looked out the window, the wolf was still there. This was probably a bad idea but I didn’t care. I slowly opened the back door and stepped out. I slipped my shoes on and walked towards the wolf. It was still watching me. I stopped a few feet from it and just stared at it for a moment. It was huge. The biggest wolf I had ever seen, yet it seemed like more than just a wolf. There was something about its eyes. “Hello,” I said quietly. Why was I talking to a wolf? It couldn’t answer me, maybe I was crazy. I slowly stretched my hand out towards it. Its eyes seemed to widen as it stepped back. “Its ok, I wont hurt you,” I said as I took a small step closer. The wolf stared at me for a moment then slowly came closer.​
 
Thanks! :)


I stared at the wolf as it stopped only a few inches in front of me, its golden eyes locked on my green ones. It growled slightly and looked into the forest. Had it heard something? I followed its gaze into the forest, I didn’t see anything. It took a step towards me and nudged me with its head. I stumped back. Did it want me to go back inside? It nudged me again. “ok, ok, you want me to go inside, I get it. I’m being bossed around by a wolf. Fabulous.”​
 
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