𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄:
The end and beginning of everything
(1831)

TW: Murder and Death.

"TIGHTER," Eloise's mother, Barbara, orders the handmaiden, who is currently tugging at the lace of the corset that Eloise is wearing.

"Mama, I cannot breathe," Eloise complains while holding onto the wooden bed frame for support. Corsets have always been Eloise's greatest enemy.

She does not understand why women must wear this torture fabric to carve their waists.

"Well, make yourself breathe. Everything must be perfect, including you," Barbara says while fanning herself, and Eloise just groans, already feeling the pain of the corset, the fabric tightly hugging her waist as if it were a second skin.

"Eloise! Barbara! We must make haste!" Eloise's father, Samuel, shouts from the drawing room. Eloise sighs. She does not even know why her mother and father are so keen on making her elegant; they must have found her a husband.

A husband. Eloise does not strike herself as a married woman at the age of 18, yet her parents are in a hurry to find her a man that can support her needs when her parents can no longer do it themselves.

She did plead with them to postpone the match when she was 16 years of age. Her parents agreed to her request.

In all her 18 years of life, she thought in order to be married, she must be in love or have some sort of emotional connection with the man she would wed. Oh, to have the love that her parents shared, oh, it must be all wishful thinking.

"Chin up, stomach in, smile with teeth, do not slack your shoulders, talk like a lady, and be a lady," Barbara orders her daughter. Eloise nods obediently, her petite and angelic features concealing her disappointment.

"Mama, what is so important that even Father is restless?" Eloise politely inquired of her mother, and Barbara let out a 'humph' and said, "Your father has found you a husband. A Duke."

Such a lack of information did not settle her nerves; it only worsened her worry. She is going to marry a stranger. She does not even know if he's a good man. Sure, he may be wealthy, but that does not equate to being a good man with good morals.

What if he's an abusive and ruthless man? What if he'll never love her as the love she's wished to receive since she was a child? Such thoughts are causing her anxiety, which she does not want to have at this moment.

"You will make a good housewife," Barbara tells her daughter as the woman's finger goes to Eloise's chin, tilting her head up for her mother to inspect.

A housewife. Eloise does not want to be a stay-at-home spouse. She does not want to be in an unfamiliar house with an unfamiliar man. She does not want to obey and submit to a man, to a stranger.

Eloise wanted to travel the world. She wished to explore and seek adventure. She wanted to feed her curiosity about the wonders of the world.

The most important thing is, she wishes to be loved for who she is, not for the person she pretends to be or the person her parents wish her to be. Eloise wants the purest of love. It is what she seeks the most.

"And a wonderful mother," Barbara adds to her statement as she removes her fingers from her daughter's chin. Eloise tries not to show her horror to her mother. This day couldn't get any worse.

A mother. Eloise does not want to be a mother at such a young age. Sure, the thought of children does make her happy, joyous even, but she does not want to bear children from a man that she does not even know. What will she tell her children? What is their greatest love story?

Not at all. Eloise does not want to be wed, be a stay-at-home spouse, or be a mother. She does not want what's happening in her life. To be pretending, to be acting as if everything was supposed to be perfect, to be what her parents wanted her to be. And she is tired, really tired, and she wants to rest. Oh, to be tired at such a young age.

"Off you go to the carriage, dear," Barbara says to her daughter. Eloise nods with one last look at the mirror. She sighs to herself as she sees the stranger calling herself. Eloise exits her room, walking to the corridors full of portraits of relatives that have passed.

As she approached the carriage, their butler offered his arm for assistance to get inside the carriage. Samuel, who is waiting patiently for his wife and daughter, quickly beams at the sight of his only daughter.

"You look gorgeous, Eloise," Samuel comments. Eloise is wearing her lilac dress that her mother personally requested from the tailor downtown, her blonde hair tied up, her neck wearing a pear diamond-shaped pendant handed down from generations, and her hands in white silk gloves with an opal ring given by her father.

"Thank you, father," Eloise says softly as she takes a seat on the opposite side of him, and her mother, Barbara, follows suit, taking a seat beside her husband, and the carriage begins to move.

"We are heading to your grandparent's mansion for their blessing," Samuel informs her shortly, and Barbara nods. "Your husband-to-be is waiting for us with your grandparents."

A few minutes passed until their carriage came to a sudden halt. Her father, Samuel, then asked their carriage man, "Ford, why the sudden stop? We are running rather late," while looking at his pocket watch with annoyance.

"We seem to have run into some trouble, your grace," Ford answered briefly from the other side of the carriage. Samuel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, then asked, "Trouble? What trouble?"

"Some men are blocking the road," Ford answers, and Barbara sighs out loud and says, "Then kindly ask them for a quick pass."

Eloise stayed quiet during the whole interaction, not really knowing what to do.

"This is wasting our time," Samuel says as he opens the carriage door and exits the carriage. Stepping forward, Samuel recognizes a familiar face and exclaims, "Earl Dominic! Finally paying your debt?" Eloise hears her father say.

"Not quite, your grace," Eloise hears Earl Dominic says, hearing approaching footsteps.

"Then to what do I owe the pleasure of our sudden encounter?" Samuel says, and Earl Dominic then says, "You see, your grace, the debt you talk about, I do not have the money at the moment."

"That's quite alright. I did not remember giving you a strict deadline to pay your debt," Samuel says, and Earl Dominic chuckles in response, "Unfortunately, your grace, I cannot pay my debt,"

"You signed a contract, Earl Dominic."

"Yes, yes. I did not forget, but I wanted to repay you in another way."

"And what is that?"

"Your death" With that said, with a loaded gun, Earl Dominic shoots Duke Samuel in the head, and Barbara screams, seeing her husband's body land on the ground, with blood pooling underneath. Eloise's mouth is agape, surprised and terrified at the same time.

She had just seen her father get shot.

As Earl Dominic pulls the trigger again, shooting Ford in the chest, the women inside the carriage hear the body fall to the ground. Barbara quickly takes her daughter's hand in her own and says in a whisper, "You must run, run as fast as you can."

"How about you, mother? I cannot leave you. "

"Run. While I distract them, understand?" Barbara asks firmly, and Eloise nods. Barbara then exits the carriage and immediately kneels in front of Earl Dominic and pleads, "Spare us, I beg of you. I will do anything that you ask." Barbara looks back at the carriage and signals her daughter to run.

Without a thought, Eloise quickly ran, hearing another gunshot behind her. Earl Dominic chuckles as he sees the petite blonde's attempt to flee. What a fool, he thinks to himself. Pointing the gun directly at the running woman, he pulls the trigger again.

Eloise felt a blinding hot pain in her back. A hand went to her back, feeling a liquid coat her hand, blood.

She trips and falls to the ground, coughing harshly. She hears a horse approaching her, "Make sure that she's dead,"

Then a foot kicks her body, quickly shutting her eyes and cutting her breathing. The man then says, "She's dead, boss."

"Pity,"

With that, the man signals his horse, and the sounds of fainting horse steps are finally gone. Eloise then releases a sob; she cannot die. How can she die if she has not fully lived? With a sudden breeze of wind at her side, she felt a woman's hand on her shoulder.

"Now, now, this will hurt only for a second," A velvety voice says something she barely hears. Eloise feels her breath fanning to her neck, then she feels a sharp pain, like a bite, on her neck. She cries in pain, and everything goes black.

Author's Note:

Some of you might be confused about why I put off my character for so long and only made her show up in Eclipse and not in Eunoia. Because Eunoia is Thalia Elie's book, not Eloise's, and that's the whole point of the series to keep you guys hooked up, because if she's been there the whole time, none of you will be interested enough to read her. So, don't give me the, 'why has she been separated from him for so long? They are literally engaged' Have some imagination. The whole point of the series is to introduce a new character to every Twilight movie (with their own storyline) to keep you guys guessing who the next character is and what their story is about. So, just go along with the story; it'll be good as always!!