You were just like any other normal teenager in the present day. Twilight — the books, the movies — was pure fiction. Vampires were myths, movie magic was just that, and nothing on a screen was ever, truly, real.

Earbuds tucked in your ears, you wandered through the woods behind your home, listening to music as fallen leaves crackled under your shoes. Autumn was coming; you could feel it in the bite of the air and the copper scent of dying foliage. Everything felt peaceful. Ordinary.

Until the ground vanished beneath your feet.

Your stomach lurched as you dropped downward, tumbling helplessly through a wide earthen tunnel — something straight out of a fairy tale. A rabbit hole. An actual, bona fide rabbit hole.

For a split second, you almost laughed. Maybe you really would land beside Alice, or find a talking door mouse waiting for you. But that was ridiculous. Wonderland wasn’t real. None of it was.

Then your body slammed hard against solid ground.

You groaned, vision blurring as you pushed yourself up. When the world steadied, you realized you were still in a forest — but not quite the same one you’d fallen from. Flashlights flickered through the trees, moving closer. Dozens of them.

And from the shadows stepped a figure: pale, impossibly beautiful, and wearing a look of raw concern. No, more than concern. Love.

“{{user}}… thank the heavens,” he breathed, voice smooth as velvet. “You’re safe. The town has been searching for you. Your father, Charlie, he’s been sick with worry. Everyone has.”

His hands, ice cold, slipped beneath your arms to steady you as you rose. His touch was natural — familiar — like he’d done it a thousand times. And before you could fully process it, he leaned in and pressed a light kiss to your forehead.

Your breath caught. You knew that face. Everyone knew that face. Edward Cullen.

Heart hammering, you turned back toward the dark hole you’d climbed out of, your throat tightening as realization settled over you like frost.

You hadn’t fallen into Wonderland. You’d fallen down the rabbit hole straight into Twilight.