Title: Secret Prophecies

Author: bexi21

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story except for my own little plot line and any characters you may not recognize. Everything else is property of the genius Stephenie Meyer.

Spoilers: Takes place after Edward leaves in 'New Moon.'

Synopsis: A prophecy can be an interesting little thing. Especially when it pertains to Bella Swan. ExB. Rated PG-13 (but M for later chapters)

A/N: This is an idea that I had been toying around with for quite some time now. I can't promise you updates on a regular basis as my real life is a constant array of craziness and it really is a chance of luck when I am able to update. But, I had to get this first chapter down. The plot itself still needs tweaking, but eventually I'll figure everything out ;)

The first part of this story (the part in italics) obviously comes from 'New Moon.' I used direct quotes for the dialogue and paraphrased the rest of Edward and Bella's conversation for the sole purpose of recreating a dream of the event. But, the majority of that part is owned by Stephanie Meyer and comes from page 72 in 'New Moon.'

Secret Prophecies

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"Destiny is not a matter of chance; but a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for. It is a thing to be achieved."

~ William Jennings Bryan

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Edward stood before me, every inch of the beautiful God that he was. His topaz eyes held no emotion. His voice was still, calm.

"And your memories?" I needed to know if he would ever forget me. If he was going to leave, I had to know. Because I could never forget him. Ever.

"Well – I won't forget. But my kind… we're very easily distracted."

My heart plummeted. I felt like I was crashing downwards at lightning speed – like I was on the Tower of Terror in Disneyland only this wasn't fun. This wasn't some amusement ride. It was a nightmare. And I needed to find a way out of it.

"That's everything. I suppose. We won't bother you again."

Realization dawned on me suddenly. "Alice isn't coming back."

"No. They're all gone. I stayed behind to tell you goodbye."

This must have been a dream. It had to have been. Edward would never leave me. He couldn't. He made me a promise. I tried to pinch myself but the stinging sensation that I felt made me realize that this was real. Everything was real. "Alice is gone?"

He said a few things explaining her absence but I hardly heard anything. His voice was like a soft musical tune carrying through the woods. There was no diction to it, no syllables that could be clearly heard. I was numb – unmoving.

"Goodbye, Bella."

"Edward!" I screamed loudly as my body bolted into a sitting position. Sweat dripped down my neck, my back, soaking my thin tank top. I felt myself heaving as I gasped for air. It was painful - this clenching feeling in my chest.

Rain pounded on my window and I turned towards it, watching as lightning flashed across the night sky. I could feel the tears rolling down my face, but it didn't matter. It used to be that I could curl up into a cold body of stone and he would kiss away my tears. But not anymore. The coldness had never left me but now I was alone.

I stared ahead, seeing nothing in particular. I wished that there were a way that my nightmare wasn't real. But it was. Every night it was real.

And the pain… It was real too - coursing through me, stabbing me at every angle. I would never escape it. Even moving to Jacksonville didn't help me now. It was almost as if the pain was worse. Because now I was so far away from the place were Edward and his family had existed. It was as if I was trying to forget them, but my heart wouldn't let me.

And I hated it.

I hated feeling this way all the time. There was nothing left in me anymore. I was hollow. Empty.

A soft creak echoed from the hallway and I sat there – waiting for my mother to show herself.

But she never did.

Not that I entirely expected her too. I knew she was standing on the other side of my door, listening intently for any whimpers or soft cries. For the first two weeks that I was here, she would come in and hold me in her arms; rocking me back and forth until sleep consumed me again. It was nice – for once – having her take care of me instead of the other way around.

Her coddling was pointless however. The same nightmare plagued my mind for the past three months. It didn't matter that she would sit with me for an hour or more. She wasn't strong enough to push the dreams away.

I sighed. Would it ever get better than this? So many questions raced through my brain – thousands of them – all going unanswered.

Eventually, I allowed myself to fall back onto the soft mattress. My eyes faced the wall before me as I clutched the blanket to my body, desperately seeking its comfort. For hours I laid that way, staring unseeingly, allowing my mind to completely shut down. And at some time during the night, I had drifted off to sleep, dreaming of haunted amber eyes.

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I had awoken with a start. The sun was now pouring in through the window, cascading its rays over me as I sat up in bed. I squinted; holding my hand up to my eyes as the brightness of the light momentarily blinded me.

Again I was assaulted with the nightmare and again, my chest tightened painfully with each breath. It hurt to know that I would have to live out the rest of my life without him. And the fact that I had no one to confide in made me draw closer and closer into myself with each passing day.

Reluctantly, I climbed out of bed and clumsily shuffled towards my bathroom. I flipped the light switch, instantly regretting it. The light was bright there too. My head hurt, pounding relentlessly. My eyes were red, puffy and showing the trace amounts of tears that had slipped away from my control. Staring at myself in the mirror, I realized that I didn't recognize myself anymore. My skin took on a gray, sickly paleness to it. My bones protruded more that what I'm sure was healthy for my body. Still, as I looked at my reflection, I couldn't bring myself to care. And while that should have bothered me…

It didn't.

Today was just like any other day. I showered, dressed, and stalked down the stairs as if my body was put on autopilot. My movements were robotic. My words were barely a whisper. There was nothing left of the life that I had once lived in Forks, Washington. I was only surviving in the shell of my body, hanging on for the ride until it came to an end.

Renee glanced up at me from her coffee as I walked into the kitchen. I grabbed a banana and sat down, staring at it as if willing myself to have the craving for its sweet, fruity taste. But like every morning, I only tasted ash.

The soft clearing of my mother's throat alerted me that she was meaning to speak to me. However, I never paid any notice to it as I ate my breakfast in silence. If she wanted to speak to me, she could. And I would listen. But if she chose not to speak to me, than that was fine too. I hated that I was behaving so poorly around my mother, but again, I couldn't find it in me to care. I took comfort in her solace when the nightmares plagued me during my sleep. But it was nothing more than that.

Five slow, painful minutes passed by. Renee continued to sip at her coffee and pretended to skim over the morning paper that lay in front of her. Phil was showering upstairs and in ten minutes he would be walking into the kitchen to fix himself a cup of coffee as well. Only I never saw it. Because in exactly one minute, I would get up, dispose of my trash, grab my bag, and leave for another day of school.

We only lived a few blocks away, so I was never in any need to drive anywhere. Other than attending classes, I stayed at home.

"I'll see you tonight," I muttered, before lazily walking towards the front door.

The air was warm against my skin, but it did little to ease the icy cold that constantly plagued my every step.

Here the sun shone everyday with the exception of an occasional storm. And whenever it did depart from the normal summer weather, it showed no mercy. In a way I was happy to see the rain, because the sun reminded me too much of how the Cullens were never around. However, I also hated the rain because it reminded me of when they actually did make their presence known.

School wasn't very different here compared to Forks High. It was bigger but the people were generally the same. There were the Jessica Stanleys and the Lauren Mallorys. Occasionally, I'd see a few Mike Newtons and Tyler Crowleys. And always, always, there were Angela Webers in every class. But no one talked to me. I kept to myself, always sitting in the back of the classroom, carefully taking notes. My body was there; my mind listened in to the lectures, picking out things that were worth noting. But overall, I was a lifeless, mechanical form. My routines didn't change, my life was dull, and most importantly, I was alone.

Lunch was never the most exciting part of my day as it was for the majority of the school population. I sat by myself in a small circular table, off to the side of the cafeteria. No one ever paid any attention to me and I paid none to them. So, I can honestly say that I was quite shocked when I felt and saw the presence of someone standing in front of me.

My eyes lifted from my unappealing ham and cheese sandwich to meet the face of a girl who couldn't have been older than myself. I gasped instantly, because apart from the long, flowing waves of black hair, she held a striking resemblance to Alice Cullen.

"Hello," she chirped, her smile unnecessarily wide. "Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

I sat silently for a few moments, gaping at her as if I were some fish, opening and closing my mouth. "Um… yeah. Sure."

She smiled even more, if that were possible, and sat down in the chair opposite of mine. Other than her familiar appearance, there was nothing else too spectacular about her. However, the whispers that floated around the cafeteria, told me that everyone else seemed to think there was.

"My name's Verrin. I just moved here," she explained, instantly sticking out a hand to me.

Hesitantly, I took hold of her hand, noticing how a sharp tingling sensation, almost like a spark, shot through my arm. It was nothing compared to how I felt when I was with Edward or with the other Cullens. This feeling, whatever it was, frightened me. Instead of behaving rudely, and snatching my hand away, I looked up to meet her gaze. "I'm Bella."

It was then that I fully took notice of her eyes. They were violet. A deep, hypnotizing violet. Again, I felt the need to cower in a corner. Something told me there was more to her than I had fully let on.

"Nice to meet you, Bella," she said, smiling her signature smile once more. She released my hand and began digging through her own lunch. I took this opportunity to study her appearance. Unlike Alice, she wasn't wearing designer clothes, but she certainly wasn't shabby in her taste at all. She only wore a long sleeved black shirt and a pair of normal dark blue jeans. Nothing outstanding, but she carried it as if the outfit was worth a million bucks.

"So," she began, taking a bite of her salad. "Where do you live, Bella?"

"Just down the street, a few blocks away from here."

She nodded, taking another bite before launching into a series of questions, all of which I answered as simply as possible. I asked her a few questions here and there, figuring out that she moved here from Italy and that her dad was in the military. She had two older brothers, an older sister and lived about thirty minutes away from the school.

It was weird… talking to someone else for a change. I wasn't entirely sure that I liked it. But like Alice, she talked ninety miles per hour, which allowed me to continue to wallow in my own self pity with ease, but also like Alice, I couldn't take my eyes away from her.

"Verrin, can I ask you something?" I questioned, nervously picking at the white bread of my sandwich.

She held her fork up in midair and looked up at me with wide, curious eyes. "Of course."

"Well, I was just… just wondering why your eyes are that color. Are they contacts?" I could have slapped myself at the stupidity of the question. Of course I knew they weren't contacts. Me of all people should know the answer to that question. I grimaced as a pair of tawny eyes entered my mind.

But Verrin didn't seem to find the question odd in the slightest and continued, happily eating her salad as she spoke. "No, I get that asked a lot though. It's a birth defect. Runs in the family." She smiled, nodding her head at me before taking a drink of her water.

I did my best to smile back but found I only achieved a rather constipated grimace.

"So, what other classes do you have?" she asked me suddenly. "Maybe we have some together."

It turned out that we did have one class together. The last class of the day, in fact. And also my least favorite. Chemistry.

Verrin laughed at my distaste for the class later that afternoon as we walked towards the science hall together. People would whisper even more as they walked by, no doubt wondering why the new girl was hanging out with the freak. It felt like my first day at Forks High… only people weren't as welcoming.

"You don't like chemistry because there's too much math?" she laughed.

I let out a sorry excuse for a chuckle as we shoved past a group of Jessica Stanleys. "No, I mean, I was okay at it but back at my old school, I always had someone…" A memory of Edward reaching over the kitchen table to help me with calculus flashed before my eyes. All I could see was his crooked grin. "Uh… someone to help me with it."

"Oh," she chirped. "Well, lucky for you, I'm fabulous at it."

Great. Aren't you just special?

I followed her into Mr. Matthews' classroom, keeping my head down from all of the other students who seemed to be gawking in Verrin's direction. My lab table was just like all of my other seats. In the very back of the room.

Sighing, I dropped my bag and glanced up towards Verrin, watching with mild curiosity as she chatted animatedly with Mr. Matthews.

He glanced over a seating chart quickly after handing her the textbook for the class. "Alright, Miss Rigas, you can take your seat by Mr. Hines."

I grimaced at the pimply faced boy on the opposite side of the room. He was the only one without a lab partner. But if it weren't for seating charts, I'd probably be in his situation right now and not sitting beside of one of the biggest jocks in the school, Marty Andrews.

I tensed as Marty chuckled heartily and blew a spitball out of an empty pen tube that landed near the front of the class. No. I think I'd rather be alone actually.

As I turned my attention back to the front of the room, I noticed that Verrin hadn't moved from her spot. In fact, she was staring at Mr. Matthews pointedly, almost as if trying to get his attention. Immediately, he jerked his head up from the papers on his desk and stared at her as if in a daze. I looked around me to see if anyone else noticed this quiet exchange, but it seemed that I was the only one.

Finally, Mr. Matthews spoke. "Mr. Andrews," he bellowed, looking back to my table.

Everyone turned around as Marty hastily hid his spitball pen. "Yes, Sir?"

"You're switching lab partners. From now on you'll be partnered up with Mr. Hines and Miss Swan, you will be lab partners with Miss Rigas."

Both Marty and I looked at our teacher as if he had grown a second head, however I'm sure my reasoning was different from Marty's.

"Minutes are ticking by, Mr. Andrews. Tick, tick. Let's move."

I watched in shock as Marty gathered his things and trudged over to the pimply kid's table. Within seconds, Verrin was sitting beside me, a huge smile plastered over her elfin face.

"Isn't this exciting?" she whispered, pulling out a plain, black notebook. "I can help you with the math part now."

I stared blankly at her for a few moments, unable to think of something clever to even say.

She stared back at me curiously, furrowing her brow. "What?"

"How…" I shook my head, trying to discern what I had just seen. "How did you do that? Make Mr. Matthews change his mind?"

"I just asked him, Bella," she shrugged, already writing down the date at the top of a blank sheet of paper.

"But I didn't see you talking."

She laughed at me before finally placing her pen down and turning to fully face me. "Well, I did talk to him. Besides, aren't you happy? I can't see anyone actually liking that oaf of a guy as a lab partner anyway," she replied, pointing over to Marty who now sat as far away as he possibly could from his partner.

Normally, I'm a social retard, but today I was absolutely positive I had made myself look even more idiotic than usual as I gaped at her. "But…"

"Alright class, let's talk about carbon bonds." Mr. Matthews voice boomed loudly throughout the room, signaling the end of our discussion.

So I sat there, trying my best to remain focused on today's lecture but with little success. Verrin was different. She certainly wasn't a vampire, of that I was certain. But I knew what I had witnessed earlier. I wasn't crazy. I may have acted like it sometimes, but I of all people knew there were other beings in the world other than humans. Was it possible that she wasn't human? I instantly shook my head of that thought and vowed to take a much needed nap as soon as I got home.

Occasionally, I would chance a glance in her direction, but Verrin was simply taking notes like everyone else in the room. And just below her notebook were a few pieces of paper, their corners slightly revealed on the table. Frowning, I looked closer, noting the handwritten letters and symbols that seemed to decorate the crisp edges. And I would have dismissed it for nothing more than the product of harmless doodling, if it weren't for two letters that made my heart swell and burst all at once. Two letters that showered me with an icy coldness that I wasn't all too fond of.

"E.C."

Slowly, I turned to look at Verrin more fully. To my surprise, she was staring directly at me, a simple, sweet smile on her face. Her violet eyes sparkled underneath the fluorescent lights in such a way that I visibly cringed. She then winked at me and resumed her note taking as if nothing had even happened.

I turned quickly, pretending that I, too, was interested in jotting down chemistry notes, moving my pen fervently over the paper. When in actuality, I spent the rest of the class period wondering just who Verrin Rigas was and why she seemed to have such a particular interest in me.

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A/N #2: Reviews equal some serious love and more insight on Verrin and the mysterious E.C. *wink wink*