Forget Me Not | ✓

08 | Abandonment

   
 
    
   
08
New Moon
A b a n d o n m e n t

SOME PEOPLE ARE born with tragedy in their blood and Adele Cullen had a strange inkling that her entire biological family had shared such tainted blood. In the muggy Texas air, she knelt before three eroding headstones and placed bouquets of flowers in front of each.

ROSALINE CULLEN
(nee Caverly) 1634 - 1663

MADELINE CULLEN
1648 - 1662

JACE ROSEWOOD
1717 - 1737

Although there were no remains to fill the marked graves beside Jace's, it calmed Adele to know that they were here. After fleeing Volterra on the morning following Jace's murder, Carlisle tried to help her cope by holding ceremonies for her loved ones in Texas, the first place they could really call home. They had many homes across the country – in Forks, in Michigan, in Texas and even Buffalo, New York. This was where they first found Alice and Jasper.

She sat down on the grass and didn't know whether to smile or frown as she stared at the names. "You've all really gone on and fucked up my life by dying, you know." she chuckled at the thought of her mother breathing her for such language. "I've made a life for myself. I have Dad and Esme, who the sweetest person in the world – you'd like her mum." she smiled softly, "And there's Emmett and Jasper, the lovable idiots, and Alice. Edward's pretty damn annoying with his human drama, but he's tolerable sometimes."

The early morning sun's heat licked her icy skin and a soft breeze blew her long hair back. An elderly man visited his wife's grave a few rows away but besides him, the cemetery was empty.

"Then there's Rosalie. I think you'd like her, Maddy." Adele looked to her sister's headstone. She liked to believe they were looking down on her during some afterlife. "She's a pain in my ass sometimes but she has a golden heart when she opens up to people." Birds were chirping in the trees bordering the cemetery and her gaze fell upon a particularly large oak to the far side of the cemetery. She felt as though she was being watched, so she decided to stop her visit short. "I'll be back tomorrow to wallow in some more self-pity." She wanted to say I love you, but her pessimistic conscience told her that it wouldn't mean anything to say it to some carved rock.

She walked out of the cemetery and made it to her car, pausing for a moment as she skimmed the area for anything unusual. When she found nothing, she climbed into her car and drove off towards the beach house she rented a few miles from there. It was isolated, maybe a ten minute drive from town, and that was just how she liked it. She parked her car a few yards away from the house and grabbed only one suitcase to take to the house. It wasn't a massive house like the Cullen abode in Forks, but it was still considerably large and lavish. It was a modern two-story home with one-way glass walls and a open wooden deck with a table set and tanning chairs. The second floor had an open deck with a swing and more chairs. It was perfect for her – peace and quiet. As she walked inside and tossed her suitcase effortlessly across the room, she walked around the house as she texted her father to let him know she reached her destination. Before she could get a chance to admire the view from the second floor, the doorbell rang out through the house and she paused. This place was isolated for a reason. Who could be at the door? She sped downstairs and walked to the front door but when she looked, there was no one there. However, a folded note was slipped beneath the door and she picked it up to read it.