PREFACE:
BRUISED

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THE CAMERA SCREEN WAS hazy, consumed by the night shadows that leaked into Gideon's former bedroom like a dripping tap pulled taut. The old lace curtains her Năinai never replaced were frayed to the point of no return. Moth-eaten and worn down by age and the elements, the light of the moon was bright enough that Gideon hadn't needed the orange-shaded lamp Wu-Zhang Jing had bought from a yard sale just the other week. Her Năinai had jumped at the chance of redecorating her grandchildren's bedrooms almost the second they moved out. A new hobby of hers, Verity's was now an unused home gym with an air mattress cooped up in the closet in case she ever visited. Gideon's was a spare bedroom/museum showcasing everything Jing liked to hoard; old trinkets, the rare new possession, things she'd never need in a million years but longed for just to fill the space.

Curled up in the familiar twin bed now swamped by a dozen embroidered cushions, Gideon couldn't resist a peek at the captured moments that occurred only a few hours ago. Bella and Edward would be long out of Forks by then; Gideon's mind was wide-awake with them, the thought of any kind of adventure, even if it wasn't her own, exciting as it was exhilarating. Gideon was buzzing on the dregs of smooth champagne, stomach alive with a thousand butterflies, the memory of bruising brown eyes cutting through the darkness with every blink. In every photo, she searched for her familiar face.

There was a picture of the bride and groom joined at the mouth as their families and friends cheered for their union. Renee Dwyer's maternal tears, Charlie Swan's grudging pride, a twinkle of sadness for the love and loss of a father and daughter. Next; Carlisle and Esme Cullen, graceful and elegant as ever, Carlisle sculpted by his tight-fitted suit and Esme swept up in the soft purple dress that matched her daughters' own ensembles so effortlessly.

The glowing grin on Seth Clearwater's face as he dragged a tiny redheaded girl out to dance. A shyly snapped shot of Sue and Billy; Seth crouched beside Billy, Sue with her arm curled around her daughter, trapping her into the pose. Then, a photo of Angela and Jessica grinning at her beside a towering cream cake; Mike had his arm slung around Jessica's waist, Angela and Eric had their shoulders uncomfortably pressed together as they stood side-by-side, the camera flash reflecting from Angela's glasses in a rainbow of colour.

Gideon's mouth twisted at the blemish, a photo to be deleted, but... there. There was also an odd blur in the background. A glowering boy shaking, body hunched over, and a woman dressed in white standing in the firing line. Zooming in proved pointless, but the next photo--

Gideon stared at the screen for a moment. Time ticked over with no recollection of the confusion that coiled in her gut. She didn't recognise the children in the photo. A distant relative on the Swan side, perhaps? They were dancing with a redheaded woman and a pale, sunken-eyed teen she vaguely remembered transferring to their school a few months before graduation. Fin Swan, or something along those lines. But behind them...

Not too far away from the obliviously dancing crowd was the bride and groom with their backs turned. Leah Clearwater stood away from them with her arms crossed, eyebrows tugged into a furious frown. Then, surrounding her were boys around Gideon's age, one or two were a few years older or younger. Every single one of them seemed serious, on edge, scared of discovery as they gazed at the giant creature staring down the wedded couple.

A wolf. That was the only way Gideon could describe the monster. It's teeth were bared, hackles raised. But in the picture before, when Gideon zoomed in just right, Jacob Black, Billy's son, was glaring at Edward and Bella in the same place the monster now stood.

Breathless but strangely calm, Gideon kept scrolling. Three photos later, a picture of Fin and a dark-haired girl with the same pale complexion and wide, sunken eyes caught Edward and Bella walking back to the dance floor and leaving behind not just one but three wolves, and a group of strange figures retreating into the woods.

Slowly, Gideon switched her camera off. The sudden darkness was jarring, but Gideon sunk into it as she carefully placed the camera on the bedside table and tugged her blankets up to her chin. Deep in the twisting of her stomach, the last of her alcoholic euphoria faded into a terrible, looming feeling that Gideon had seen something she wasn't supposed to. A dream, nightmare, that had been bought to life and caught in the unmistakable clarity of a random girl's digital camera. Her mind raced with questions, with the sickening notion she had to edit these photos and return them to Bella and Edward. Somehow, they were caught up in this, and several missing photos would surely raise a few questions...

Gideon was scared, undeniably so. Wolves, giant wolves. People morphing from human to creature, both monster and man, truth and lie. Would they hurt Gideon for uncovering their secrets, however accidental it was? Questions, questions, and no desire for an answer. She had to be going insane.

Desperate almost, to know her mind was hers to control, Gideon reached for her camera again and gaped at the damning pictures until her eyes burned.

This was the moment.

There was before and there was after, then this fragmented moment in between where her world was flipped inside out, spiralling off its axis into the abyss. Where nothing could ever be the same again, and Gideon Wu absolutely had no choice in the matter.

But this was the story of her life, really.

And it was only just beginning.