Okay. So, I was tired of all of this unrealistic "Yay! I'm going to be a blood-sucking, ravenous vampire and I get to say goodbye to every person that I've ever loved! Yahoo! Bring on the blood!" crap. So, I wrote this. I think it's a lot more realistic. –nods-

Enjoy. :)

It was a typical day in Forks, Washington. Rain fell from the sky, as per usual, the sun nowhere in sight behind the dark clouds. Autumn leaves flew rapidly across the wet concrete, floating and twisting an elaborate dance routine. Most people ran to their cars, trying to escape their inevitable fate of becoming absolutely drenched. Everyone, of course, but one girl. She stood silently at the end of the road, staring at the mall as if such a sight was foreign to her eyes.

The freezing rain fell as sharp as needles upon Bella's skin, but she could not seem to feel it. She had been standing there for so long that her pale skin had become completely numb – whether it was from the cold or the pounding rain itself, she was not sure. The wind that scattered the leaves whipped her hair too, sending the chestnut waves into a frenzy around her head.

It was gone.

She remembered this place as it was years before, filled with trees and birds. It had once been the most beautiful place that she had ever seen. Her eyes closed and she imagined that the hard ground beneath her feet was once again the lush, flower-covered grass. If she listened, she could still hear the rushing water in the distance. She could see butterflies flying past her, the trees swaying in the wind, his skin sparkling like a diamond caught in the rays of the sun . . . but that was all gone, too.

Her memories of that time were so hazy, as if she were trying to recall a dream. Sometimes she was sure that it was. He was so perfect and she was so plain, but there was nothing plain about how they felt. What they had was the most beautiful, extravagant that she could ever dream. It had been so long ago. She was such a different person then . . . the idea that such a perfect someone could fall for a pathetic human like her – it just seemed so unfathomable.

When she gazed at the scene before her – cars buzzing through the lot, shoppers struggling to keep their new purchases dry – it was so hard to believe that this had once been her sanctuary, her place of peace. It was now a hectic mall, full of people and noise – the things that she once escaped in her visits here.

The one scene that remained in her memory had been destroyed. There was nothing left of the beautiful meadow. She had hoped to gain so much by coming here. She longed to feel closer to that life; to remember, if only for a moment. But there was nothing left. Every aspect of her human life had vanished. There was nothing for her to cling to any longer.

A soft hand fell upon her shoulder, and she instantly calmed. His arms wrapped around her waist, and she tried her best to pretend that they were in the grass again. Of course, that was to no avail.

"You will never remember," he told her, but his voice was not of the sweet velvet quality that she once knew. His voice was much too rough to belong to her beloved Edward. He spun her around to glare into her eyes. She blinked and his dazzling face changed, morphing into the beautiful, smiling face of Jacob Black.

She screamed, and suddenly the floor seemed to move from beneath her. She was falling now, down into a dark hole. Pictures flashed in front of her face; memories that she did not wish to forget. There were pictures of Charlie, her mother and Phil, pictures of she and Edward in the meadow, at prom – memories of the greatest time in her life. The ones that pained her the most were of Jacob – smiling and laughing, teaching her to ride a motorcycle, his wolf form sitting with her beneath the moon. She felt the warmth of his skin, the softness of his lips, the comfort of his strong embrace . . .

She suddenly felt like she was shaking, shuddering within the rabbit hole. She heard Edward calling her name and she struggled to rise to the surface, away from the lovely memory that haunted her. She moved her arms around like she was swimming, trying to save herself from drowning in him.

"Bella!" she heard. "Bella, wake up!"

Her eyes flew open to find herself in bed. Her cheeks were soaked, as if she had been crying while she slept. She glanced to her left to see Edward, his glorious face watching her wearily. His eyes were wide with worry.

"Bella, darling, are you alright?"

She shook her head rapidly and threw herself into his arms. She clung to him like a drown victim to an inner-tube. She hid her soaked face in his chest and tried to let his gentle pats calm her.

He whispered her name, but she only shook her head again. The wedding was only days away, and the approaching change was hanging over her head constantly. She wanted more than anything to have Edward forever – but the last thing she wanted was to forget the world that they had met in.

"It was just a nightmare," she said quietly, "a dreadful nightmare."

But this was no nightmare. It was soon to be reality.

And she wasn't so sure she was ready.