SHADES OF GREY!

[shades]

M I S S I N G
ISABELLA 'BELLA' MARIE SWAN
fair skin, 5'4, 115 pounds, brown hair and chocolate eyes
she was last seen leaving her boyfriends house, the night of
September 13th, after his family threw her a birthday party.
If you see her, contact the Forks Police Chief immediately

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PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE

It has been a whole week since Charlie Swan -the police chief of the small town of Forks Washington-, saw his teenaged daughter Isabella Swan. She had left in high sprits, to spend the evening with her boyfriend Edward Cullen family. Hours later Bella left the house, waved off in her red-truck, by the whole family. After –what they describe- as a pleasant evening, in which they celebrated her eighteenth birthday. However Isabella Swan never made it home; her empty bed was discovered at seven in the morning by her father and her abandoned truck was found hours later, about a mile outside of town. There was no sign of a struggle and no evidence that she was hurt; it was as if Bella got out of the truck and walked away. The police are baffled and the two families are devastated and worried for the missing youth. Posters adorn every street-light and every wall at the school Bella’s high school. And while police have yet to find a body, flowers have been laid where her truck was found, with well wishes for the two families. A large reward has been offered by the Cullen family, for any information on the missing teen.

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THE GUARDED TRUTH

This was the public story, obtained from Charlie Swan, a handful of Bella’s peers and every single member of the Cullen family, statements to the police. However while the first two told all they knew about the night, everyone one of the Cullen’s lied. It was nothing new for them and nobody picked up on there false story, as they all played their parts perfectly, having all been prepared for the questioning by Alice. While their words where all lies, their emotions and facial expression where not. The strange worry and sadness on all their beautiful faces wore, where all true. The night had not gone to plan and each one of them wished that, what they where telling the police, was the truth. But that truth was the truth, the truth would lead to questions they could not answer, and questions that would endanger their lives even more. The truth was Bella was just as alive as each on of them, just as cold and just as beautiful, but twice as dangerous.

On the night of September the thirteenth, Bella had arrived at the Cullen house, where Alice had laid out a party for her. However she had never left; she had never driven away, and she had never abandoned her truck. That was done by Esme, at the time they all told the police that Bella had left. Bella on the other hand, was hidden away in a room, on the top floor of the Cullen house. She was watched closely all night by three members of the family, –Edward, Carlisle and Alice-, while she screamed in agony. The last three members of the family where located in the garden, listening to her distant screaming and Edward gentle soothing voice, as he tried to calm her down. The three where huddled in one corner of the garden, near the boulders Emmett used for arm-wrestling, Rosalie and Emmett stood, arms crossed watching the last member of the Cullen family, Jasper, hide his blood red eyes. The night had gone nowhere near to plan and while Bella had opened her birthday presents was distinct reluctance; a small cut to her finger had changed their lives forever.

As the blood had trickled down her pale finger, one member of the family lost all his normal sense and lunged. Shocked and stunned by Jasper’s sudden actions, all the family could do was watch in horror. Emmett was the first one to act, a split second after the lunge he tried to catch Jasper, but he failed and was knocked to the other side of the room. It was not until Jasper sunk his teeth into Bella -not even a second after the initial cut- that her ear shattering scream aroused Edward up from his shock. Without thinking, he lunged at Jasper, throwing Jasper, Bella and himself right into a glass cabinet at the opposite side of the room. When they skidded to a holt, with a horrid crack, Edward threw Jasper off Bella, into Emmett’s and Rosalie’s awaiting arms. Without a second to delay, he was dragged snarling into the back garden, while the others surrounded Bella. She was unconscious; for the moment and her head was cracked open from the collision with the cabinet. Carlisle quickly tended to her the best he could, but he knew it was no good, and as she aroused murmuring about a fire in her veins, they knew she was a lost cause. Alice showed Edward the suspicion they would all be under if she arrived this badly injured to the hospital, and the chances of her making it through where slim anyway. The best way for her, was to let Jasper’s venom work its course.

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THE NEVER AFTER

A week later and nobody was any the wiser about what happened in the Cullen house. The house had been searched and all the questions had all been asked. Satisfied with their version of events, the police had moved on to explore other routes of investigation, leaving the Cullen’s to deal with a new-born. Bella was kept under strict surveillance at all times, as her control is no better than any other new-born. The others did their best to go on with their lives, attending school, work and generally keeping up with their act. Though each and everyone one of them was struggling with what had happened, that night. Edward while he understood he did all he could to save Bella, the guilt was still eating him up inside. What if he had stood nearer her, or not lunged the way he did, would she still be human? The guilt was just as strong with Jasper and the emotions of his family, where only making it even worse. He became more distant that ever, hating himself for what he did. Alice while concerned for both her brother and her husband, spent her evenings with Charlie, doing her best to look after him in Bella’s absence, as no amount of comfort is going to bring either of them round. Emmett spent most of his time by Bella’s room, as the strongest in his family he is the only on who could stop Bella. Rose lingered near him, slightly smug about the situation, a constant look of ‘I told you so’ never far from her face. Esme and Carlisle did their best to help, but the situation is dire and the last thing they all need is one of Alice’s little visions, to screw things up a little more. But then their luck was not that good at the moment.

Sitting on the stairs, while the other members of the coven floated about around her – working on their own tasks – Alice’s eyes glazed over and their futures took another dark twist. Victoria -still furious about James’s death-, had learnt about Bella’s transformation from Laurent, who still lived with the Denali clan. Alice had seen her reaction days ago; it had been one of frustration, as her plans for revenge had been made that much harder, now that Bella was a vampire. But she was not giving up! Finished grieving for James’s death; she moved further south and heading blindly for the worst person possible for the Cullen’s. Victoria’s and Maria’s paths where about to cross and Alice could see that nothing good of this for any of them. Maria and Victoria had vendettas with two of the female members of this coven. Isabella for the death of James and Alice for leading Jasper further away from Maria, who still thought of him as a companion. With the family in such a fragile state, they where not equipped to deal with it. However it was too late to stop, it was going too happened and they where just going to have to sit back and wait for the hurricane to hit Forks.

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THERE IS NO BLACK AND WHITE, ONLY
SHADES OF GREY
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