Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea's that deviate from Ms. Meyer's original story line.

A/N: I hope you enjoy this story and let me know what you think. I enjoy reading the reviews left even if I don't respond to them all. Also when leaving reviews all I ask are no flames. I encourage constructive criticism and of course all positive comments.

Crimson eyes. Topaz eyes. Sometimes the color was in-between. I knew the moment I saw those eyes I could trust them and the person they belonged to.

The first time I met him I was six. I was living with my mom in Phoenix. My mom had allowed me to go to the park by myself. She reminded me to come home before dark, but I was so busy playing I didn't notice how late it was getting. I finally realized the light I was playing by wasn't the sunlight but it was the street and moon light. I started getting scared and instead of going home, I hid underneath the play equipment. I didn't know what to do. I was crying and praying my mom would come find me.

Instead of my mom, my guardian Angel showed up. He was over six feet tall with dirty blonde hair that hung in his eyes. He was also wearing a cowboy hat and boots. He had two friends with him. This time all three of them had crimson eyes. My Angel picked me up and carried me home. The girl with him was speaking softly to me. She was very sweet, but I refused to let go of my Angel. When we got to my house, they made sure I got inside but didn't come with me. I turned around to wave good bye and they were gone. I did whisper thank you in the wind, but I had no idea if they heard me.

Over the years my Angel and his two friends would come to my aid. Sometimes they helped with money; other times it was just to make sure I was ok. They had helped me a few times when I got lost or stayed out too late when I was shopping or with friends.

By the time I was thirteen I had taken over paying all our bills. I knew my mom loved me, but she was forever trying something new to make herself seem younger. She always had a parade of men in and around the house. I knew she was looking for love but hadn't found it yet. She left my dad right after I was born. I would see him a couple weeks in the summer, but I never told him how it really was.

The summer before I turned fourteen, I was visiting my dad, Charlie, for a couple weeks and I had paid my mom's bills before I left so she wouldn't get behind. Apparently when I left my mom went on a shopping spree before the checks I had mailed off were cashed so all of them bounced. By the time I got home, I was scrabbling to catch up and didn't know what I was going to do. I paid what I could, but our electricity was still turned off. I was scared and didn't know what to do.

A couple days after our electricity was shut off my mom was out with one of her boyfriends and my Angel and his friends showed up. This was not the first time they had arrived since taking me home when I was six. I never told them about how my mom couldn't pay our bills and I was struggling so they were shocked to find out our electricity had been shut off. My Angel was so mad his eyes went from topaz to black instantly, but promised me it would never happen again. He had his male friend grab all the bills and mark down account numbers and company names. He then called the electric company while he was standing in my living room and paid the bill in full plus enough that should cover the next two months.

I was so grateful, but I couldn't tell him that. When I heard him on the phone I started crying. I hated that this had happened and my Angel had found out. My Angel then had his female friend go to the grocery store when he saw how little food we had in the house. The food had been enough for me and since my mom was always eating out with her boyfriends I hadn't been worried about that.

After I ate supper that night, my Angel held me on the couch. I was just drifting off when I heard his male friend say "Major, we have to go." I wanted so badly to hold tight to him and beg him to stay, but I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up the next morning my Angel and his friends were gone. Even though it had been almost eight years since I had first met them, I still didn't know their names. All I knew at this point was my Angel was called 'Major'. I held that name close to me every night.

About a week after that night, I received a letter in the mail. In the letter was a black credit card. The letter was short but oh so sweet. It said: "Please use this card for anything you want or need. There is an unlimited balance so you'll never have to worry. – JW"

I made sure to hide the card and letter from my mom. I knew he said to use it for anything, but after all he had already done I wasn't going to use it unless I had to for bills. I soon found out though that all our bills were paid each month in full except for my mom's credit cards. I knew without a doubt my Angel was taking care of this. I kept paying my mom's credit cards with her paychecks every month. I decided if the checks bounced for those it was her own damn fault and I would never use my Angel's money to help my mom with those.

Over the next couple years I never used the card. I do remember my Angel's female friend stopping by once without the guys on my 16th birthday. My mom had forgotten again, but I knew she would remember in a few days and give me something. My Angel's friends' always had crimson eyes, but I trusted them as much as I did my Angel. She took one look at all my clothes and declared I needed a whole new wardrobe. I argued with her but she said it was my birthday and I had no choice. I finally relented after she called my Angel.

"Major," my Angel's friend said into her phone. "You need to talk some sense into this girl." I knew she wasn't being mean, she was just frustrated.

"Darlin'?" my Angel questioned when I got on the phone. "Please let Char take you out. Use the card I gave you. I have never seen a charge come through on it. Please think of it as my birthday present to you." That was when I finally learned her name.

"Alright," I agreed hesitantly. I was sixteen and hearing his voice on the phone did funny things to me. I had never liked any of the boys I went to school with but none of them were a cowboy. I remember vowing when I was six years old I would only marry a cowboy.

After that conversation, Char, took me to the mall. I hated shopping. I have always hated shopping. Shopping with Char was fun. She let me choose what I wanted and didn't pressure me. Anytime my mom took me shopping she would pick some of the most horrendous outfits. I did get a whole new wardrobe and a few new pairs of shoes. Char had a good eye and after seeing some of the stuff I had picked was able to select items I liked. I paid with the black card just as I had been asked to, but only after Char had persuaded me.

When we checked out I watched the price steadily creep up with each item the clerk rang up. I hadn't realized how many things we had picked up. When the clerk was about half way through the stack, I tried to stop her. I was going to tell her to put the rest back. There was no way I could spend that much money and expect or allow my Angel to pay the bill. When I tried to argue, Char took one look at the clerk and said she was to ring up every item. I'm not sure how she was able to get the clerk to do it even though I was standing there saying not to.

After Char dropped me at home she helped me carry everything in, but said she needed to get going. About a half hour after she left my mom showed up. I had put away all my new clothes and packed up my old ones to donate.

Halfway into my junior year of high school my mom met Phil. He was a great guy and was closer to my age than hers but she was happy. He was baseball player in the minor leagues. After a whirlwind romance he proposed and they were married. At that point I decided to move to Forks, WA to live with my dad for my senior year of high school. This would allow my mom to travel with Phil without worrying about me being on my own.

The only worry I had about moving with my dad is not being able to tell my Angel. I had no way to contact him or his friends. I knew my mom was flying out the same day as I was, but her flight was a little later. I decided to leave a note on my bed telling my Angel where he could find me if he wanted to. I laid it on my pillow and put 'Major' on the outside. I didn't know any other name to call him by and addressing it to 'Angel' seemed a little weird. I only hoped he would find it and then come find me. I wouldn't blame him though if he decided not to find me. I took the black card, but decided not to use it unless I had absolutely no choice.

My dad picked me up from the airport in Seattle which was about four hours from Forks. My dad was the Police Chief in Forks though so he picked me up in the cruiser. When we got home, his buddy Billy and Billy's son, Jacob, were pulling up with a beat up old truck. My dad, Charlie, told me he had bought the truck from Billy for me. It was such a sweet gesture.

I started my senior year of high school shortly after getting to Forks. I met a lot of new people, but I was very interested in the two with topaz eyes. Their eyes were the same color as my Angel's. I learned from Jessica, the gossip queen of the school, they were the adopted children of Dr. and Mrs. Cullen. Their older adopted siblings had graduated the previous year. The two still in school were Alice and Edward. Jessica also told me Alice was with Jasper, one of the ones who had graduated. Apparently they were trying to make it work even though he was away at college with the other two, Rosalie and Emmett, who were also together.

I slowly got to know Edward and Alice. None of the boys in the school held my interest. Edward showed interest in me though, sometimes. He was hot and cold about the whole thing. I remember after first meeting him in Biology the first day he didn't show back up for a week. I also remember how his eyes, which had been topaz at lunch, were black when I sat down next to him in class.

While I hung out with friends from school, I also hung out at the reservation where Billy and Jacob lived. I learned about their legends. Jacob told me how his people were descended from wolves and they would protect their tribe from the cold ones.

Over the course of a month or so, I started dating Edward. There were little things that didn't add up and made me realize there was something different about him. I started connecting the dots and realized he was a cold one from the tribe's legends. The cold ones were now referred to as vampires. The second thing I realized was my Angel and his friends were also vampires. I'm not sure why, but I held no fear of Edward or his family.

I confronted Edward about being a vampire. He again tried to persuade me that he was bad for me, especially now that I knew what he truly was. He ripped up trees to show me his strength amongst other things to show me his true nature. I remember saying "I can't be afraid of you. You are too nice to me. Even after that display, I hold no fear of you." I knew on some level I wasn't afraid of him because of my Angel.

A couple days after that conversation, Edward took me to his house to meet his parents. Carlisle and Esme were so nice. We all got to talking about vampires.

"Why are your eyes topaz sometimes and black other times?" I asked. I had seen them slowly change for both Alice and Edward, but I've also seen how Edward's would turn instantly from one to the other.

"Well, our eyes are topaz when we are full," Carlisle started. "They turn black for a few different reasons. The most common is when we are hungry. They also turn black with rage or lust, since both of those are very strong emotions."

"So all vampires have topaz eyes?" I asked. I wanted to ask about crimson eyes, but something told me not to mention that I knew about that color.

"Those of us in our family have topaz eyes because we feed from animals," Esme said.

"Human drinking vampires have red eyes," Alice said.

"You must stay away from any vampire who has red eyes," Edward spoke up. He seemed to be very insistent on this point. I again decided not to mention the fact that I knew three human drinking vampires. "They are very dangerous and unstable."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the beginning. I'm thinking as the story progresses the chapters will be longer but that all depends on what is happening in the story. Again, I look forward to reading any thoughts and comments you may have!