I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling but to my surprise I didn’t recognise it; it wasn’t the ceiling of my own bedroom. Was I still asleep? I became more aware of my surroundings and heard rain clattering against the windows, some chatter of people and the sound of a heart rate monitor beeping next to me. I looked around and I was laying on a bed in what appeared to be a hospital room. I didn’t remember how I got here, I had no memories of getting into an accident or anything that would mean a trip to the hospital so unless I suffered from memory loss I was sure I had to still be dreaming. I closed my eyes and tried to force myself awake by digging my nails into my hands but nothing happened.
Before I could get into a full blown panic attack I heard a door open and saw a young man who I assumed was a doctor come in accompanied by a nurse who was following him.
“My name is doctor Cullen, it’s good to see you’re with us again” the doctor said in a soothing calm voice as he smiled at me.
Doctor CULLEN? Did that mean I was having a Twilight dream? I’d never heard of anyone named Cullen outside of the Twilight franchise. The books and movies were a source of comfort for me but I haven’t had any Twilight dreams in a long time.
I took a quick glance at the silver nameplate clipped to his white doctor’s coat and I was right:
Dr. Carlisle Cullen
I studied his face and he looked pale, paler than most people I knew and there was a golden, honey coloured tone to his eyes. I also noticed he was handsome, not in a rugged masculine way but there was an almost angelic feature to his face. I thought it was particular but if this was a dream then it was nothing out of the ordinary.
“What happened to me?” I asked, still staring at the man’s face.
“You don’t remember?”
I tried my hardest to remember but once again my mind went blank, if anything happened to me then it wasn’t coming back to me anytime soon. That wouldn’t explain why I was talking to a twilight character though, unless something happened that caused brain damage and I was having hallucinations. I’d rather not think about that.
“No, I don’t sir”
“Hmm” the doctor furrowed his eyebrows while writing something on the notepad he was holding.
“The Chief found you in the woods after what we assume was cardiac failure, we tried to do CPR but despite our best efforts you were declared clinically dead until unexpectedly your brain activity and heart rate were coming back.”
I listened to what he said but my brain didn’t process it, instead my ears started buzzing and I felt the blood withdrawing from my skin. I was sure if I heard more about my medical condition that I was going to faint. I never had a good reaction to things like these.
“Honestly you should consider it a miracle to be healthy and alive. It’s rare we see a patient suffer through such a traumatic event without any serious consequences. As far as any of the tests show you’re completely healthy. However you mentioned not remembering anything so I’d like to run a few tests with you if you don’t mind” Carlisle said as he sat himself in the seat next to the bed.
“It’s fine” I responded, still feeling weak but slowly recovering my strength.
“Do you remember your name?”
“Um- it’s Adam” I was relieved to at least remember that much. As far as I recalled I remembered most things that held any importance. I knew I worked as a psychologist, that I was 26 years old and lived in New Jersey with my family. I still remember most of their names and faces as well as some memories of my childhood. But when I tried to remember the last few days or any of my last moments leading up to here.. nothing.
“That’s good” Carlisle answered while writing in his notepad “Where are you from Adam?”
“I’m from New Jersey”
Carlisle stopped writing and looked up at me with a worried, contemplative look in his eyes.
“And you don’t remember how you ended up in Forks?” He asked, his tone full of curiosity. Of course, Forks. I was still in Twilight and talking to a vampire.
“Honestly sir, I don’t remember anything of what happened in the last few days.”
“I see”
There was a moment of silence for what felt like forever while he wrote some things, he then suddenly closed his folder and stood up.
“Your blood flow was restricted to your brain for quite some time, so it might be normal for you to have some short term memory loss. Things might become clearer in the next few days but if you experience any other symptoms then you should come back. Do you have anywhere you can stay?”
“Actually I don’t, everyone I know is in New Jersey”
“Please excuse me for a minute” Carlisle said and he exited the room.
I laid back on the bed and closed my eyes. Nothing of this made any sense, not only did I have an medical emergency I didn’t remember but I also ended up in Twilight. How was it possible for both things to be true? I decided for now that this was a dream, a strange one I wished to wake up from soon but a dream nonetheless. The strangest thing of all though was how awfully real all of it felt and nothing like a dream at all. A lucid dream would explain that much but it felt more real than that and somehow I wasn’t able to wake up when I usually would.
The door opened again and Carlisle came back in, followed by a man with a moustache. He was wearing a cop outfit. It had to be Charlie Swan.
“This is Chief Swan who I told you about earlier. He agreed to give you shelter on the condition that you find a place for yourself before next week and get enrolled in the local high school”
I sighed. I wasn’t looking forward going to high school *again* but I also didn’t have anywhere else to stay so I had to go along with it for now. I wonder in what part of the story I had arrived- Didn’t Bella already stay with her dad?
“What about B-“ I swallowed my words “Sure. Thank you Doctor Cullen. “
I stood up to shake his hand and it was ice cold, the touch of it send an electric shock all throughout my body. I immediately withdrew it to not give away any reaction that would imply I knew anything. I just smiled at him and he gave us a charming smile before dismissing us.
----------------------------------------
Charlie stayed quiet while we walked out of the hospital and into the pouring rain. It was refreshing to finally be out of the humid hospital room and I felt much better already. I knew from the books that Charlie Swan wasn’t a man of many words and neither was I so we silently entered his cruiser. The sun already went below the horizon but as we drove I noticed how much green there was around us. Forks was just another small town and nothing interesting in particular except for the scenery. I always wanted to visit Forks, and Washington in general so I took it in as much as I could. We pulled up to a small two-story house which to my surprise looked exactly how I imagined it. I saw Bella’s truck was parked outside.
“Is someone else staying here?” I asked just to break the awkward silence and also to gather some information about the timeline.
I saw Charlie hesitated a bit and groaned before answering “No. I bought that Chevy as a welcome gift for my daughter but she shouldn’t arrive until next week.”
Until next week. That would mean I arrived a week before the actual plot of the book, that would give me some time to come up with a plan. For one how to avoid Edward Cullen.
“Don’t get any ideas son. You’ll be long gone before then”
I noticed Charlie was staring at me intently while I was being lost in thought, he probably assumed I was having inappropriate thoughts about his daughter. That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind until now- Bella despite being the main character hadn’t really crossed my mind at all and certainly not in that context. For a second I imagined what she would look like but I shook that thought immediately. No. I was just here to have a place to stay until I figured out what to do next, It was for the best that Bella and the others for that matter would just follow the plot as it was written.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Of course. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. I know I would if my dad did something like that” I smiled at him genuinely but my compliment made him visibly uncomfortable and he was shifting awkwardly in his seat. I wish Bella was more appreciative towards her dad in the books. He was always one of my favourite characters.
“Right” he mumbled and we resorted back to awkward silence. We entered the small house and Charlie got rid of his belt and holster.
“I uh would offer some food but I didn’t have time to get any. I can order some takeout if you want” Charlie said scratching the back of his head.
“No I’m good. Thanks for the offer though. I honestly just want to get some sleep.”
“Alright then. You can stay in my daughters room for now it’s just upstairs and to the right. Should be easy to find”
I nodded even though I knew all of this already.
“Alright. And thank you again sir I really appreciate you’re letting me stay here”
“Yeah. No problem” he mumbled and made his way into the living room.
I took a deep breath and walked up the stairs. Bella’s room was easy to find because the only other rooms on the second floor were Charlie’s room, the bathroom and a small closet. I opened the door to Bella’s room and then closed it behind me. The room looked about how it was described in the book: Light green walls with the most notable things in the room being the twin bed with purple bedding, a rocking chair in the corner and the wooden desk with an outdated computer. Ugh 2005’s technology was going to be a such a drag compared to what I was used to in 2023. All in all I thought it was a cozy looking room.
I stared at the window at the end of the room, Edward would be climbing through there not so long from now and that thought gave me chills. I’ve always thought it was icky he broke in at night to watch Bella sleep but actually being here made it feel so much more real. Would I be interfering with the plot too much if I did something about it? After all it was the right thing to do. I decided to ask Charlie about it tomorrow, without sounding crazy and having to tell him the full truth that is. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep that night so instead I looked through Bella’s stuff to find something I could write in. I found a old diary and sat down at the desk grabbing a pen from the penholder.
For a short moment I had the urge to read some of it but I wouldn’t be any better than Edward if I invaded her privacy, so I skipped through it until I found a blank page.
First I began to write a few theories of what could have happened to me beginning with what would be the most logical explanation.
1. Explanation: This is a dream and I will wake up in my own bed soon.
Counterargument: this experience didn’t feel like any other dream. I had too much control over my thoughts and body. My physical reactions, sensations and emotions felt real, so did the other people I’ve met.
2. Explanation: Similar to 1 but I’m in a coma, this would explain why I wouldn’t be able to wake up.
Counterargument: Same as 1, I had never been in a coma before so I wouldn’t know how a endless dream would feel but again it felt too real.
3. Explanation: This is some outer body experience in which I astral projected myself into the twilight universe.
Counter argument: The twilight universe is fiction and only exists because Stephanie Meyer wrote a book, making it a fraction of her imagination.
4. Explanation: I died and my soul reincarnated in this world.
Counterargument: Again, Twilight is fiction and there’s no tangible proof that I do have a soul, and if I did why would it bring me here?
5. Explanation: I died and this is my personal hell.
Counterargument:
I stopped writing at stared at my last two theories. What IF I died? I never said goodbye to my family and the thought of never seeing them again and the pain they would be going through brought me on the brink of tears. I was never particularly happy with my life- struggling with depression, loneliness and being neurodivergent all throughout my adolescence, and then my adulthood wasn’t much different. But my family and the people around me were always the thing that kept me going. I wiped away my tears and turned the page.
I began writing everything I remembered about the plot from Twilight to BD highlighting the most important parts. I then wrote the backstories and characteristics for each character.
I didn’t know what to write for Bella for the most part which was frustrating, she never really had much personality besides liking Edward, nor did she have much thoughts in the book. I wrote about some of the things she liked including her favourite music, colour, her favourite book and her particular disdain for everything that is cold and wet.
I laughed at the irony of her falling in love with Edward. I wrote about her parentification and how she never had a normal childhood but instead had to take care of her neglecting mother. This meant she grew up to be very selfless and independent because she didn’t know much else than having to take care of others. I grew more frustrated as I wrote about this but I was also overcome with sympathy for her. Her parents, being the parents were supposed to be responsible and take care of her and not the other way around. I was comforted by the fact that soon she would have Edward and would finally have someone to care for her without having to be strong and independent all the time as much as I admired her for it.
I closed the diary and put it in a backpack then I turned around and saw the sun had already rose. Well there wasn’t much sunlight to see, it was misty and drizzling softly. I had been writing all night, nothing out of the ordinary for me but Charlie would be up soon. Just as I thought that I heard footsteps coming up on the stairs, jumped into the bed and pretended to be asleep.
Someone knocked on the door and then it opened. Charlie cleared his throat and I turned around to look at him.
“So. Doctor Cullen just called and he said you can start at school today.”
Today? Didn’t admissions usually take longer than that. I had just arrived last night.
“So soon already?” I asked him.
“Yeah I don’t know, he just said something like they were expecting you and he took care of it so if you’re ready I can drop you off before going to work”
“Sure just give me a minute” I sighed.
“Alright” he answered before closing the door again.
Of course Carlisle had taken care of my school admission already, the man had deep rooted connections and not to mention had more money than anyone could ever dream of. I was exhausted from last night but got up, grabbed the backpack with the diary in it, threw it over my shoulder and ran downstairs. Charlie was already waiting for me at the door.
We got into his cruiser again and he drove me to school.
“Mr Swan?”
“You can call me Charlie”
“Right. So Charlie I might have a strange request.”
“What is it?”
How do I say this without sounding mentally disturbed.
“I think you should barricade the windows in your daughters room”
“Why?” He asked looking at me like I just asked the weirdest thing, which I did. Unless you knew the truth there was no way of this sounding like a regular thing you ask of someone. Especially not coming from someone you just met.
“I can’t say. You’ll just have to trust me there’s a good reason. It’s for the sake of B- your daughter”
There was a long silence. And I saw he was pondering over what I just asked of him.
“You’re right. That is a strange request” he finally said. “But sure I’ll see what I can do”
“Thanks” I said relieved. We arrived at “Forks High School” and he dropped me off just in front of the reception.
“Just do me a favour and stay out of trouble, alright?”
“Will do” I said before getting out and watching him drive away. I pulled the hood of my jacket up as I was left in the drizzling rain. I stared at the building, if this was permanent there was no way I was going to enjoy redoing high school again. It was bad enough the first time. I also knew the attention Bella got as a new student and I didn’t envy her for it, I was certainly an introvert and suffer in silence type and I’d preferred to just do my thing without having any spotlights on me, at least it’s a smaller school than those we had back at home which could be either a good thing or a bad thing.
----------------------------------------
I walked into the small, cozy front office and saw a red haired receptionist sitting behind the counter. She was chubby and was wearing small glasses on her nose.
“Hello! Can I help you?” The friendly woman asked.
“Hi. My name is Adam and I’m a new transfer student”
“One minute dear” the woman said as she shuffled through some papers on her desk.
“Ah I see. Adam Cullen is it right? Transferred from New Jersey to Forks High School. “
Adam Cullen? I knew Carlisle took care of the paperwork but what was he on about giving me his last name? Not that I did mind anyway. New life, new name.
“Yeah that sounds about right” I answered.
She gave me a map of the school along with my lesson materials. I thanked her and made my way to my first class. The start of the school day was a daze, I stumbled through my classes and ignored most of the teachers’ lectures being half asleep and half lost in thought about the situation I found myself in. Most of my thoughts I found being focused on Edward and I grew more anxious about having to see him at the cafeteria. Thankfully though most of the students left me alone to do my own thing and didn’t randomly initiate conversation.
My last class ended and I walked to the cafeteria, grabbed some food and sat alone at a table. That’s when I saw the Cullens, at a table at the far end of the cafeteria. Not eating, or really doing anything. They were just standing and sitting around like they were posing for a modelling magazine. They weren’t looking at anyone either, mostly just paying attention to themselves, it was strange. I picked a pizza from my plate and took a bite but then I felt Edward’s gaze was on me. I hope he didn’t see me noticing them too much, at this point I wished I had Bella’s mental shield just to not have to deal with his invasive gifts. I looked at him and locked eyes for a brief moment but long enough to see his gaze grew more frustrated. Shit did he read what I just thought? This is exactly why I didn’t want to deal with him. His intense stare got too much and I ran out the school to get some fresh air, I walked around a corner and bumped into someone. I looked up and it was Edward, staring at me. Freaking Edward Cullen was stalking me now. His upper lip twitched.
“How do you know?”