Hello all, thanks for clicking on my story! I've attempted fanfiction once before, but rushed it too much and the plot fell apart, so this time I'm taking it slow, and fleshing things out before I dive in head first. This is definitely a Bellice story, so don't read if you're not prepared for that! If anyone has suggestions, or ideas they'd like to pitch, shoot me a message! I've got most of the plot figured out, but I'm open to new events. Enjoy!

Death is easy...peaceful. Life is harder, especially when the one person who means the most isn't around to be a part of it. My name is Isabella Marie Swan, and today was the day I helped lower my mothers' casket in to the ground.

No one ever prepares for that feeling. We always expect our mothers to help us through the hardest years of life; high school, college, marriage, kids. Bella remembered thinking how happy Renee would be to be a grandmother one day. She was always bubbly, eccentric, and amazing with children, as if she was born for that purpose, just for family. Sometimes she was so free spirited that Bella had to keep her grounded and her mom would tell her she was too serious, much like her father Charlie. Not that it was an insult or a bad thing, despite Renee and Charlie being divorced they were never on bad terms, and Bella loved her father dearly.

The funeral had lasted about two hours, and Bella had barely been mentally present, still not fully grasping that it was actually happening. Renee's work colleagues had shown up, her parents (Bella's grandparents), some of her close friends, as well as book club members and some people from the YMCA that she frequented. They all tried to offer their condolences to Bella and Phil, but all she could do was thank them and return the gestures mechanically. It wasn't until the Priest had asked if anyone wanted to say a few words that she stepped up to the podium, mostly being urged on by Phil, and it hit her all at once. She didn't make it through everything she wanted to say before breaking down and having to return to her seat, where her step-dad enveloped her in a firm embrace and let her cry it out.

Bella was the only one who knew anything about her mothers' death. It had been unfathomable, to say the least, and she saw no point in trying to explain in detail. Not only because people wouldn't believe her, but even worse they might think her legitimately insane. The police listed it as an animal attack, for lack of better explanation, but she knew better. She had been there. Her eyes glazed over as she retreated in to the depths of her mind, conjuring up the memory once more.

The sun had just set for the day, the air was cool and stars littered a darkened sky. Bella was in the backyard with their year old rescue dog, Mayor, relaxing on one of their white painted adirondack chairs under the hanging porch lights made from old mason jars. A project that Phil and Renee had set out to complete, with Phil taking care of most of the wiring. They didn't have a fence, they hadn't really seen a need to install one. Mayor was a well behaved, well trained canine who was never keen on leaving his family's side and they lived in an exceptionally safe neighborhood, where break-ins were rare, if not completely unheard of. There was just a partial rock wall barrier on the sides, no higher than two or three feet, that Phil had built to separate their yard from any of the neighbors, but the back was left open.

Bella had been enjoying the unusual night breeze, leaning back with her eyes closed when Mayor had begun to behave strangely, he was whimpering gently from his place beside Bella, staring intently in to the darkness that overtook the desert behind the yard. It wasn't until he suddenly decided too take off that Bella realized something was wrong, and despite her better judgement, she followed him.

"Mayor!" She called, whistling and clicking her tongue, running as fast as her legs would carry her, hoping to catch him before he got too far. "Come back, boy!"

The only thing that she could make out was the reflective plate on his collar, which was becoming less and less visible the further they got from the back porch and the lights. This wasn't good, if she went any deeper she would end up lost and she didn't have her cell phone on her. Exhausted and out of breath, Bella finally caught up to the canine, placing her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Looking back up, she realized Mayor's fur was standing straight up, with his hackles raised and lips drawn back in a snarl, directing it at something in the wall of darkness that she couldn't see.

"Bella? Bella where are you!?" Came the distant sounding, frantic cry of her mother from the yard.

Bella was frozen in fear. Staring back at her and Mayor from the shadows was a pair of bright yellow, menacing eyes. At first, she thought it might be a cougar, they were similar in color and shape, but there was no way a cougar was that tall. Then she heard it. A low rumbling noise, something that sounded like it was straight out of Dragonheart.

Mayor backed away, whining and growling simultaneously as the creature lurched forward. Bella tried to scramble backward, to turn and run, but her curse of being a klutz kicked in and she tripped, falling back on to her butt as it moved closer, towering over the two of them, saliva dripping from its snarling jaws. It was like nothing she had ever seen, or even imagined in her worst nightmares.

The beast was at least six feet at the shoulder, its face was vaguely humanoid, slightly flattened but with a lion-like nose and eyes, and framed by a wild, tangled mane of hair. Its body was massive and muscular, covered in a mixture of course fur, with a pair of bat-like wings and what looked like Scorpion stinger in place of its tail that was almost longer than its body.

"BELLA! BELLA GET UP AND RUN!" Renee screeched, running toward the petrified girl.

That seemed to snap her free of her trance and she leapt to her feet, turning heel and sprinting in the opposite direction without a second thought. She squeezed her eyes tightly to the sound of Mayor attempting to fight it off, trying to ignore the sound of her companions' howls of pain. There was a snap and they stopped abruptly. She chanced a glance back, and screamed at what she saw. The beast was closing in, its maw covered in the dogs' blood and snapping its teeth violently at her. Bella turned back to see her mother getting closer.

"GET IN THE HOUSE! CALL 911, AND NO MATTER WHAT YOU HEAR, DO NOT LEAVE!" As Renee passed her, she grabbed her and gave her a swift kiss on the forehead, "No matter what happens Bella-Bug, I love you more than anything in this world. Never forget that."

With that, she shoved her only daughter toward the house, and ran straight toward the horrifying beast. Weaving past the patio furniture, Bella skidded inside, slamming the back door shut and grabbing her phone, frantically calling the emergency line. Her adrenaline was pumping too hard for her to fully explain what was going on, but fortunately the emergency dispatch caught on to the urgency of the situation. She dropped the phone, ignoring the urgent voice of the dispatch woman encouraging her to stay calm and hide, and sliding down with her back against the door. It was like being in hell, with her hands cupping her ears as tightly as she tried to drown out the sounds of her mothers' screams.

She wanted to rip the door open and run to her, to help protect her, to not be a coward, but her legs were paralyzed in fear, and no matter how much she willed it, she couldn't get them to move. Bella held her breath when things grew quiet, only the sound of heavy paw steps filling the air. Whatever it was, was closing in on the house. That's when she heard the sirens closing in on the house, and the noise must have been enough to scare away whatever was out there because it never made it to the yard.

The next thing she knew, she was being led out of the house by a pair of officers with a blanket draped over her shoulders. In her shock, she barely heard them talking. They were talking about her, about her mother and the dog, and how whatever had been there must have been chased off by the sirens. The beast was gone, and it had taken the life of her beloved pet, and her beloved mother, with it.

The brunette shook herself from the memory with a start as a knock sounded at the bedroom door. She looked up from her place in the middle of the bed, quickly stacking the photos she'd been looking at and gently shoving them in to a manila envelope, which she carefully placed in the bottom of one of her bags. She realized she had been crying and quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks, trying to look as put together as possible before giving Phil the all clear.

"Hey, sweetie," The statuesque, bald headed man slowly pushed the door open and made his way to the bed, sitting on the edge and turning to face her. "Are you almost ready?"

Phil was a kind man. Bella's mother had married him when she was about twelve, and although he could never replace her father, he treated her as if he was her own.

"Yeah, I just had a few more things to pack, but I think I'm ready." She tried to force a small smile, whether for her sake or his, she didn't know.

It didn't fool him though, he knew she was hurting just as much, if not more, than himself, and with a knowing look he held out his arms and Bella allowed him to swallow her in to a hug. She knew she would miss his hugs the most, they were always warm and made her feel protected, especially with him being so much larger than her. After a few moments, and a few escaped tears on her part, Phil removed himself and held her at arm's length, gently wiping away the drops that slid down her cheeks.

"It'll be okay, Bella-Bug, maybe not today, or very soon, but I promise we'll both get through this. Let's get going before we miss your flight." He gave her a quick, comforting smile before leaving the room.

Bella gave a genuine smile in response to Phil's nickname for her. It was one of those things that made her feel like she was really his family, especially when her mother adopted it as well. She stood up and grabbed the last two bags she needed (one duffel bag and her personal backpack) before making her way to the door, stopping to survey the room one last time. It seemed barren and sad now, with most of her things either already shipped to Charlies, or stuffed away in the luggage to go with her on the flight. All that remained was a bed, a dresser, and a few other furniture items that she saw no point in trying to bring, seeing as Charlie assured her that he had everything she would need at his house.

As she made her way through the house, she stopped in each room to briefly relive the memories they had all made in that house. The only room she avoided was her mom's room, without even seeing it she thought of all the times the two of them had girls' night, sitting on her bed eating ice cream and watching stupid reality shows because they were her mom's favorite. She finally made it downstairs and through the front door when she heard Phil calling out from the driver's side of the car.

"I love you Bella-Bug but we've got to leave now or we'll miss the flight!" He didn't sound impatient or angry, just slightly urgent.

After locking the front door for the last time, she climbed in the passenger side, apologizing to him for the delay.

"There's no reason to say sorry, I understand. Honestly, it's taking everything I have not to sit here and reminisce about all of the good times we've had here." A pained look flashed across his face momentarily, before he gathered his composure, "Anyway, we're about an hour from the airport, if you want to take a nap there's a pillow in the back seat."

Bella nodded in acknowledgement, but she didn't feel very tired. Instead, she put her head phones in and leaned the seat back slightly, watching Phoenix, Arizona fly by as she blared her music. She swallowed a lump in her throat, opting to imagine what Forks would like instead of dwelling on the place she had called home for so long. It was going to be a few long, emotional and busy days.

I don't know if FF will notify of changes to chapters, but after revisiting my story (thanks to another spark of inspiration) I realized I didn't like how bare the first chapter seemed, so I tried to flesh it out a little more. To be totally honest, I might add to it again but I need to kick in to gear on finishing the third. Enjoy!