Definition of Fate

It was a beautiful day in Chicago, the sun was out, the clouds were dancing and the birds were singing melodies so glorious for mortal's ears. Children were playing, boys were throwing footballs, and girls were sketching scenes. Two young teenage guys were throwing back a football. They were wearing the usual clothing of men in 1918, white shirts with ruffles in the middle, one was wearing brown pants and the other was wearing a black jacket over his shirt with black dress pants. The one in black had long bronze hair with beautiful dark green eyes.

Something caught the bronze haired out of the corner of his eye. A stunningly beautiful girl was sitting on a bench watching him. Her hair was light brown and she had deep brown eyes that you could stare into for oblivion. Their eyes locked together and then his friend threw the football straight at his head. The bronze haired guy ducked too late and angrily threw the ball at his friends head but missed. He then looked back to where the girl just sat but she wasn't there.

The other day the bronzed hair guy went back to the park with his friend. They were both tall for their age, his friend was five eleven with short blonde curls and the bronzed hair guy was five twelve.

"You are insane for even trying to look for this girl," his friend told him with disapproval thick in his voice.

"Look Michael, you don't have to help," his friend argued.

"Of course I do, Edward, if you didn't have me for a friend, how would you have met this girl?"

"We haven't met yet." Edward said though he promised himself they would meet. They stood around the bench where she sat for a while before Michael left Edward to look like an idiot by himself. After some time alone Edward turned on the back of his heel and left with his hopes dashed. As he turned around though, there was his beauty. He could drown in the deepness of her eyes and he planned on it.

"Hello," Edward breathed. There were no other words he could stammer out of his breath.

"Hi," the girl smiled and took Edward's last breath away. At that moment he died and came back to life because of this girl.

"I'm Edward Anthony Mason," Edward greeted her and held out his hand stiffly. Laughing the girl took his hand and smiled wider.

"Maya Hawthorne, it's nice to meet you Edward. May I call you Eddie?" Her eyes smiled so brightly that Edward knew he was in love.

"You can call me anything you want."

They walked around most of the city, talking, joking, and teasing each other. They felt comfortable with each other, as if they had known each other all their lives instead of a few short hours. Soon Maya's feet started to hurt from all the walking and she started tripping. Edward took her by the arm and helped carry her home. He loved holding her so close, her pale skin next to his, and the feel of her softness and the cotton of her dress. His eyes couldn't stray away from her heart shaped face, her kissable lips or from any part of her beautiful face.

By the time he got her home to her head was resting on his shoulder and his arms held her tight to his side. She held tightly to him as he let her go.

"Will you come by tomorrow Edward?" Maya asked him in her very tired voice.

"I'll come by as much as you want," he promised her and with his fingers he raised her head by her chin and pressed his lips lightly on hers. "Sweet dreams Ms. Hawthorne," he whispered to her and watched her walk up the steps, onto the porch, and open her door. Before walking in she waved goodbye to him.

His heart fluttered like a butterflies wings.

Edward hung around the hospital where Maya's dad worked and waited for her there. After some time she walked out with an older, taller man with the same light brown hair and brown eyes except his eyes had no depth, no personality in them. Maya saw Edward and her face lit up so energetically that she half skipped half ran into his arms. She jumped into his arms and Edward caught her perfectly, his arms cradling her like a child. He kissed her hair and his lips moved down to her lips.

Edward would come inside the hospital on some days. The nurses tolerated him but were annoyed. He would wait there for her and try to stay out of her father and every other doctor's way. They all knew he was there to meet Maya who spent most of her time with her mother, who was in the hospital. One day she came out of her mother's room with tears dried on her face.

"What's wrong? Isn't she okay?" Edward asked but Maya just invited herself in his arms and he welcomed her fully. He held her tight and kissed her head. They were silent, neither of them needed to speak. Edward didn't need to ask anymore because he knew that she would tell him when she was comfortable. He could wait forever for her.

"Hello Ms. Hawthorne, Mr. Mason," a doctor greeted them as he walked by. Maya released herself from Edward's loving arm and positioned herself to see the doctor.

"Hello Dr. Cullen," she smiled. Doctor Cullen was the most gorgeous and lively doctor in this hospital, he had pasty pale skin and a nice British accent everyone adored. "How are you today?"

"Just fine, thank you Maya. How are you Mr. Mason?" He asked Edward.

"Fine," Edward told him in an uptight voice. Dr. Cullen nodded as he walked away with a wave. Maya nudged him lightly on his arm.

"What was that about? Why are so rude to him?"

"He's scary," is all Edward said. "He's too… too perfect."

Edward was the first to introduce Maya to the parents. His mother, Elizabeth just loved the girl and fussed over her. His father would talk hours with the girl, trying to embarrass his son, and succeeding in the process but Maya would just smile, laugh and hold on to Edward and tell him he was so beautiful. His parents would smile at their love.

Edward wasn't poor, he was just fine. Fine enough to have food and a house without worries and to have clothes on his back. It was the way he lived and he never wanted anything more or anything less. The only thing he might have wanted would be a new best friend since Michael would mock, embarrass, and do anything in his power to make him feel uncomfortable for falling in love with a Hawthorne.

Hawthorne's were new in town. The doctor was high paying and his wife used to buy the best clothes, china and furniture for them with the money but now she's too busy in a hospital bed. She's sick, her heart was failing very slowly and they couldn't take care of her in their home anymore. Maya had already spent her seventeen years of life looking out for her mother. She had never thought of having someone look after her, but now she didn't have to because Edward would girlfriend sit her all the time.

The first time he went to meet her father and her sister he was very scared and very nervous. He wanted to do it for Maya, to see her face brighten and feel her arms wrap around him in joy but at the same time he was scared. He was scared for his own life. He worked hard, was very polite, very well dressed, and very charming. Angelina, Maya's little sister, wanted Edward all for herself, but she was thirteen so she wouldn't go through this fantasy because of the smile in her sister's eyes. Maya's father liked Edward, he was a nice young man and he could see he cared for his daughter but at the same time he believed seventeen was too young for them to be in love.

However, he couldn't stop it.

They spent most of their time together, sometimes with Michael or Angelina. Edward met Maya's mother after some time and he talked to her about normal every day things he was showing her daughter who was so new to Chicago. Maya's family had a piano in their living room that Edward fell in love with on sight so Maya thought him how to play. He learned quickly and became even better at it than Maya. They would write music together and perform it for everyone.

Edward's parents came over to their house and watched their son play this gorgeous instrument.

They cried.

Edward and Maya would babysit Angelina most of the time. Picking her up from her ballet classes.

"Did you ever take ballet Maya?" Edward asked her one day.

"Yes," Maya admitted shyly. "I wasn't very good at it. The experience was… unbearable at best." She told him.

"I'm sure you were the best," Edward said as he tucked hair behind her ear. She was so beautiful to him, he couldn't keep away.

"You weren't there," Maya laughed a little.

"I'm positive you were the most gorgeous dancer there. You were the bell of the ball," he complimented her.

"I never truly understood that expression," Maya commented, wanting the subject to change.

"It came from old Italy, I believe, Bella is translated as beautiful and so bell was kind of a nick name," he mused as his fingers played with Maya's hair.

"I like that name, Bella," Maya smiled.

Then Maya's mother died.

The Hawthorne's had gone back to Philadelphia for some time and watched Danielle go six feet under. They wore black, cried and read her diaries of when she was her daughter's age. Edward wrote her every day until the epidemic came. Dr. Hawthorne had to go back to Chicago to work and to help but he made his daughters stay far away from it, they moved a lot, instead of staying one place. Then Dr. Cullen sent Maya a letter. In it was written that Edward's parents had died of the epidemic.

She went straight to Chicago against her father's orders. They wouldn't even let her enter the hospital, or even finish a sentence. Then she saw Dr. Cullen and he took pity on this love struck girl.

"Maya," he began. "I didn't know you were coming back, you're father said you were going to live with your grandmother in Louisiana," he explained. His eyes looked mad, tortured and very sad as he saw her.

"Edward," she choked out. Tears were falling rapidly out of her eyes and her body started to shake. "Is he, is my Edward okay?" She asked. All she had to do was look at Dr. Cullen's sullen eyes and then burst into tears, sobs struck themselves out of her body and she looked like she was having a seizure instead of a broken heart. Dr. Cullen took this poor girl into his arms and soothed her. There was nothing he could say.

Elizabeth had said it all.

For three days Maya stayed there and she cried, she prayed, she ripped apart half of her house. One minute she would be crying on her knees begging for the gods to bring him back, and the next she would be in a fit of rage tearing the pillows apart. Rarely did she sleep. During the night she was reading Edward's favorite book, a book he lent her and she stole from him because she loved it just as much. Tears were soaked through the pages.

That was when the intruder came.

The trees outside her window rustled and her window opened so hastily she wouldn't even notice without the gush of wind flowing through her room. She was in the same thing she wore when she met Edward, the long white dress that went to her knees. In the front it was laced up just a little bit so it showed the silk dress underneath.

She looked up with a look of terror in her eyes. Then she saw someone in the corner of her room and she could make out a hint of reddish brown hair.

"Edward," she gasped. "Edward," her lips turned upwards into a sad smile. She started to sob, thinking that her head was playing tricks on her. Then stone cold arms were wrapped around her shaking body. Her breath stopped all together.

"Don't be sad, my darling," a voice told her. A voice that sounded a lot like Edward's. Maya tilted her head and looked up at his beautiful face. He was…. Unworldly. His skin had gone ashen, and his eyes…. They were, golden. Beautifully golden.

For a while Maya just sat in his arms, her mouth open and her eyes with fear written all over them. She wasn't afraid of this new Edward, even though she should but she was more afraid of when he would leave. Edward was holding her and holding his breath. She smelled so good but at the same time he controlled himself. His heart controlled his strength, and right now their love was winning.

"I love you," Maya told him. She had never said it to him before and half of her tears had been cried because of the chances of telling him was slim. Now it wasn't. "Dr. Cullen, he – he told me you were…" She couldn't admit the words.

"It's okay my Maya, everything will be okay now. I love you too. I love you so much," he explained. "I'll always love you," he promised. Then he kissed her, it was soft and short but it was just enough for his teeth to take a bite out of her tongue. He didn't notice the sweetness of this kiss was because of her blood so he let her go and kissed her nose, forehead and whispered in her ears the words that would ever kill her.

"You're my soul mate, and my heart will always belong to you."

Then Maya started to feel the fire. It grew outrageously in her veins and she screamed of pain, the maid would run up and try to serve her but it was like a seizure of pain. A seizure of heat. Dr. Hawthorne and Angelina came back to Chicago to see Maya and they cried, thinking it was some different branch of the epidemic. Dr. Hawthorne didn't know that Maya didn't see Edward on his death bed. His good friend, Dr. Cullen had left town.

They thought they had seen their daughter die. On the night that the screams stopped she felt cold and there was no heart beat, no breath. She was left alone as her family went downstairs, even Angelina to talk about funeral arrangements.

Her body was taken to the funeral home and in her casket was when she woke up. Confused, energized, and… different she was. She was very confused, wondering where Edward was.

Maya's eyes were blood red and hungry. Her skin was ice cold and tough to crack, she felt invincible, and… hungry. She stood up more gracefully than she had ever done in her entire life. The last thing she remembered was Edward so she ran out of her room in the blink of an eye to his home. In his home was nothing even resembling life. Her thoughts were scrambled, all at once without a single breath to differentiate.

She screamed.

For months she looked. She knew she was different and said her goodbyes silently to her family, from the outside. In her room she saw Angelina standing in front of the mirror in her clothes, crying, she put the items away. Maya stole back some possessions, including the book with tears. Once, she went out in the sunlight and saw her arms sparkling like millions of diamonds were embedded under her skin. It was marvelous and that was when she knew. She knew she was in hell.

Maya traveled, going from place to place. Running, never socializing, just eating. That first night she wondered the streets, cold, out of place and saw the people walking around her. She noticed them in different ways, she noticed their heart beats, the way their veins popped out in certain ways and how their throats were arched. She scared herself. Maya huddled herself into a corner where she couldn't hurt those people and then a dog ran out of its house, barking madly at Maya and her first thought was to shut it up, to drain every ounce of blood from its body.

She ran away.

As far, and as fast as she could.

When she needed to, she fed on animals. Wild life that she could find. She was still confused, at least until her first clear, that's when everything made sense.

Vampire.

She was a vampire.

It wasn't long before she learned about her counterparts. There were werewolves that she smelled from about a few miles away. She didn't know who they were, or what, she just knew that she smelled nasty. Then from the corner of her eye, she saw them change from normal, beautiful humans into dangerous wolves. Maya came up with an idea after some time. She knew in her gut that she hated them, so she thought; they must hate her too, right?

Maya had already come to terms knowing that Edward was gone, that he was never to be found. That maybe he didn't want to be found. Sort of. Because of these thoughts, she gave herself to the werewolves. Simply, she stood in front of those people she saw dissolve into creatures and in the sun, they saw her skin sparkle.

Their mouths snarled and growled as their tall, dark bodies ripped into a more unstable being. With her last breath, Maya killed herself.

With the thought of Edward in her mind.

Angelina was in the other room, playing and painting with her dolls and friends. Bernadette, Maya's maid had brought out tea for Edward and Maya.

"Thank you Bernadette," Edward praised with a smile. His arm was around Maya's waist and neither of them ever wanted to be let go of this moment. "Angelina seems to be having a good time," he noted.

"Yes, she is," Maya said her mouth busy drinking tea.

"Will we have kids once were married?" Edward asked her. Stunned, Maya turned to him.

"Who says I'm going to marry you? You're egotistical, that's what you are," Maya noted.

"Aw come on, you know you love me," Edward teased her. "And I love you, so why shouldn't we get married? We already are devoted to each other." Maya thought about it for a second and then started again.

"Well, if we were to get married, you are supposed to get on your knee, with a ring, and announce your love."

"I would do that every hour if that's what you want," and he would. They both knew that. "We're going to get married one day, I'll make sure of that." Maya and he looked each other in the eye for a while. "We'll have cute kids," he said quietly.

"If they know what's good for them, they'll look like you."

"Oh no, our daughter should be the reincarnation of you," he smiled widely. "You're the most beautiful thing in this world. Nothing could compare."

"Not even our daughter?" Maya mused.

"Not even," Edward told her with such passion that she believed him.

"What shall we name her?" Maya asked as he snuggled in closer to Edward.

"Whatever you want," he promised her. His eyes smoldering her.

"Bella," Maya breathed. "We'll name her Isabella, so she'll capture the beauty of the world."