(A/N): Hiya...while editing one of my other stories, I realized that I replaced the right chapter in the wrong story...really sorry about the inconvience for the past 5 minutes or so...

And since I have no idea what my previous AN had said, I'm just going to put the disclaimer and leave it at that...hehe

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize (applies for the whole story)

Prologue – Story of Kimberley

Deep in the forests near a small rainy town named Forks, Washington, lays the enormous, yet haunted, estate of Kimberley Castle. It was said to be haunted by everyone because of the howling sounds and unexplained phenomena that had occurred there throughout the ages. Investigators reached there and never returned. The newly discovered electricity always flickered out as soon as one set foot upon the land. The small barns and servants' quarters at the edge had strange markings upon them and were stained with blood – blood that had soaked within the very stones themselves so no rain could wash them away.

Even an imbecile had enough sense to avoid the estate upon sighting the tall, thick trees which marked the boundaries and hid away most of the gore from above and around. Only the birds dared to fly over the large patch of land in the middle of nowhere.

Legends had it that a monster lived in the land – a cannibalistic monster that ate away everything. Myths said that an evil witch set her cauldron there to create something so terrible that the whole land was infested with it. There were still others who believed that a bloodthirsty vampire dwelled there, just waiting to feast upon unwary travelers.

The truth was not too far away. Kimberley Castle over a hundred years ago was the jolly capital of a jolly kingdom. Their Majesties, Carlisle Cullen and Esme Cullen were the kindest and best kings and queens in the whole wide world. Their only disappointment in life, known by most of the kingdom, was the fact that they never had any kids of their own. Esme had suffered a terrible case of the flu during her first pregnancy, resulting in the death of her child as well as the inability to carry any more. The couple, however, never loved each other less. They simply adopted three young orphans – all boys – and raised them as their own. Emmett was strong and muscular, and older than Jasper by a mere three months; and Jasper was quite thin but the smartest of the three, and older than Edward by five months. Edward, the youngest, was lanky, but clever and was somewhat stronger than Jasper. Apart from their physical appearances, the three adopted princes were considered triplets.

Pranksters of the worst kind, the whole kingdom knew of the infamous tricks and harmless mischief that they had done together in Kimberley. For example, putting colorless coloring in the drinks at parties that turned tongues and teeth purple within five minutes; having a hair spray connected with a 'pedal' in the corridor where the maids travel the most to dye their hair green; and putting something in each other's birthday cakes so the cake would explode over the first and second person who dared to touch it and leave enough left for themselves to stuff their faces with.

No one was mad at them. Rather, everyone was quite fond of the three naughty princes and thought them very smart for their age. There was once when they tried to prove their tutor wrong by hanging a poor maid upside down and forced her to swallow water. The tutor never said that water always flowed downwards again. Young boys and girls from across the small kingdom thought the princes geniuses – they were able to pull pranks as well as receiving high marks from their tutors in each of their subjects. And so, the boys grew.

When he was twenty, Emmett found a beautiful duchess named Rosalie Hale, then only seventeen, to whom he promptly fell in love with. The marriage came a few weeks later, and the entire kingdom sighed in relief as the eldest prince finally settled down.

At the wedding ceremony, Jasper caught himself falling in love with the daughter of a Lord – Miss Alice Brangdon. This resulted in another wedding only a few weeks after his brothers and the whole kingdom in shock and surprise at the prospect of have two of the biggest prankster princes settled with a family.

Young Edward, who had yet to turn twenty at that time, was left to his own devices. He only occasionally pulled a prank here and there, but his brothers and sisters-in-laws almost always gave him slightly annoyed glares. In the throes of loneliness, everyone started feeling bad for him and decided to appease him in every possible manner. He never found a girl with whom he could settle down with, but he had found the glory in getting what he always wanted. When he was twenty-one and his first nephew was born, he had become used to the hidden rule that said 'what Edward wants, Edward gets.' Without care from his parents and brothers, he had become selfish and mean to everyone.

And that was what he was like when his first nephew was born. An old woman had visited the birthday coronation of Prince Jasper and Princess Alice's firstborn. She bestowed a wondrous gift to the darling boy, named Charles, and the spoiled Prince Edward became jealous. In private, he rudely demanded the old woman to give him something, too. Insulted beyond relief, the old woman changed him into a voracious vampire and his entire family into living stone sculptures of various animals. Emmett became a bear, Rosalie a Mrs. Bear; Jasper became a stone-white golden retriever, Alice became the Mrs. Retriever, and their newborn son into a playful puppy; Carlisle and Esme was transformed into Mr. and Mrs. Wolf.

The entire kingdom was sent into despair. They royal family watched helplessly as Edward, always focusing on his own needs and blood-thirst, devoured what loyal families and servants they had left since the transformation. His memory was wiped clean of the first twenty years of his life and his heart was cold as stone. No matter what his family tried to do, he acted as if he was spoiled for the entire twenty-some years of his life.

The kingdom came to a ruin, and a hundred years had passed. The nearby forests had gradually devoured the empty city, save for the once-glorious castle which now was in despair. The family's only hope for salvation was, as the old woman said, "When Edward learns to love and be loved in return." Only then could they turn back into their own selves and continue living (and dying) rather than being stuck in time forever.

The problem was, Edward never focused on others before. He satisfied himself with blood and then ran off to some old corner of the Kimberley estate to mourn his misery, before going off to hunt more blood. There had been quite a number of maidens, all of whom ended up cold and bloodless before Edward even had time to look at them clearly. Sure, they had endless time to achieve this, but they were also imprisoned – forever forbidden to leave Kimberley until Edward learned his lesson.

"Well, what are you waiting for?! She's not going to wait forever, you know, and she can't read minds. If you're going to tell her of your intentions, you'd have to tell her instead of wishing on a star!" Emmett said, exasperated that his brother's procrastination. "You're not the only one suffering, ya know? And we'd like to be able to move freely from Kimberley for a while!"

Edward had already gathered his courage to ask, but it was deflated by a single thought: Who, in their right minds, would fall in love with such a beast, much less a vampire who could to suck them dry for his next meal?

And yeah...the AN here was wiped clean, too...so...tell me what you think! (you are allowed to read to the end and submit a review...I still read them! even if I don't always reply!

Cathy