Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Claws

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 05:

The look I was hoping for. Billy Black was shocked, sickened and worried.

What do you know Billy?

A strong part of me, the part that was trained to get answers thought of taking his boy and threatening to slit his throat if he didn’t talk. But if he did, there would be no reason to kill him, only have two other people know who and what I am. I didn’t need him for answers yet.

The Cullens were vampires. What was important was how he knew? Had his people had dealings with them before? Were the legends his son talked about based in real history? If they were harmless, why did Billy hate them? What could they have possibly done to his people?

Why would the Cullens have ever revealed themselves to humans?

Unless these legends of his people involved creatures that were not human. When one looks at the world from my point of view, anything is possible.

The man who wants to be my father cleared his throat. Glancing his direction it was obvious Chief Swan was uncomfortable with this subject. He didn’t know what Billy knew but did not want the subject brought up again.

Life is unfair like that sometime.

“No… I’m afraid I have never met any of the Cullens personally, I just know them by name. Your father knows them, right Charlie?”

Charlie shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably.

“Not personally. I’ve met Dr. Cullen a few times at the hospital. Seemed like a decent enough guy, good doctor. I’m kind of surprised a doctor with his talent moved to Forks. That fish is smelling really good. Whose hungry?”

Judging by the blush on Charlie’s face, Billy’s sudden desire to look no one in the eyes and the sudden paling of color in Jacob’s tan skin I decided to let the issue drop for now. I had time. I would get the answers I needed, if not from the Cullens then Billy Black or his son.

I suppose by my silence they assumed it was safe to move on to other items, like the ruined fish and this sporting event called baseball. I used to want to know more about the outside world and sports was one of the things we all heard the scientists speak of in the hallways. My curiosity was at an end now. If this was an example of a popular sport, I would rather watch a Caiman bask in the sun all day.

Sitting through nine innings and forcing this fried fish down my throat was difficult but finally came to an end. With the end so did Billy and Jacob’s presence thankfully. One more inning sitting in the room with Charlie Swan would be too much. I had not spent this much time in his presence since I arrived and I preferred to keep it that way.

Waving goodbye to Billy and Jacob from the door I immediately moved upstairs hoping for solitude until the time came to take my own tour of La Push that night.

It was not to be judging by the knock on the door.

“Hey Bella?”

Comfortably stretched out with no desire to move, I told him to come in. The sooner he said what he needed to say, the sooner he would be gone and I could rest before my midnight run.

“Hey… you doing alright?”

“The Cullens are vampires.” I told him staring at the ceiling with my arms behind my head.

After several moments of silence I looked over to him. Apparently, this revelation was a surprise.

“All of them having golden eyes never clued you in Chief Swan?”

The man shook his head.

“The Organization told me… they said vampires have red eyes. Do they wear contacts? You can’t fight them all by yourself. Are you going to call in help or…”?

“Chief Swan please stop rambling. I don’t believe they are a danger right now. I am curious as to how your best friend knows about them. His hesitancy to discuss them with me and the length he went to convince you they were bad news makes it obvious. Did he ever tell you a reason? Jacob said you two had quite the argument about them.”

Charlie nodded slowly. “He said… he just said they weren’t good people and to stay away. I never had a problem with them. Dr. Cullen has been a great help to the community. He started something about tribal legends but when I pushed for more he clammed up, asked me just to trust him, put pressure on the Cullens to leave town and I refused. I’ve never known Billy to be so pig headed about anything but he had a real attitude and it pissed me off. So you think he knows and its not just some tribal legends his grandfather or one of those older guys told kids around a campfire?”

“All legends are based on some kernel of truth. Thank you for the information. Did you need something?”

Now the man was blushing. Strange to see a grown man do that. Julie told me I often blushed when we were first together. Perhaps I had some original traits from this man before I was turned into what I am.

“I was wondering… it was nice having you downstairs. Look, I get that you hate me. I get that saying sorry won’t mean anything to you. I was thinking though, since we are going to be living together if maybe we can get to know each other just a little so we don’t have to hide from each other?”

He wanted to know me. I would have thought my appearance and roar would tell him everything he wanted to know. Apparently not. Should I tell him about me? It would only hurt him worse so it seemed like a good plan. I sat up and walked past him to the kitchen motioning that he should follow. Once we both had a seat I began.

“You want to know about me? I will tell you everything you want to know. Let’s start with my childhood. Would you like to hear about it?”

The man looked at the table top, not meeting my eyes.

“I asked if you want to hear about it? Do you only want to learn the things you are comfortable with or do you want to really know me?”

“Yeah, I want to know.” he said quietly.

“I was known as 10877 until the age of three. At three those of us who had survived the first two years of genetic manipulation were given names. I was named Bella by my project director. I found out later I was named so because I was the most beautiful work he had ever done. From the age of three we began strenuous academics to measure how fast our brains could comprehend and retain knowledge. In addition to this we went through daily physicals. This was the basic routine until we were five.”

The man was finally looking at me for the most part.

“At the age of five they began weekly injections of vampire venom in my blood, only small amounts at first that grew as we did. The injections made me feel as if I was on fire. Have you ever had acid dripped on your skin? That is what my veins felt like. The pain usually stopped after two days. Many of us died during these trials, their bodies not able to fight off the turning process but unable to fully turn because of their genetic makeup. Their organs shut down slowly.”

Now he looked a bit sick.

“Look at me. You wanted to know, I am telling you so at least have the decency to look at me, Dad.”

His swollen red eyes met mine. He was upset. Perhaps he should have tried living through it or having to watch me live through it.

“At the age of seven my claws appeared. My fingers split, my toes hurt and I cried for days. I couldn’t make them go away. I had to eat shredded meat for every meal with my hands because I couldn’t use utensils. I had to practice with the older shifters, forcing myself to focus through the pain until my hands and feet returned to normal. After six months I could finally control the changes without pain. When I turned eight, I became angry during a sparring session, my jaw unhinged and my incisors grew. I couldn’t make them go away. I was fed raw steak so I could learn to use them to shred my enemies. My eyes changed, my vision in the light screwed up and I begged for darkened rooms. I was told no, that I had to become used to seeing in the light with no pain. Eventually I did.”

“Bella…”

“We aren’t done. You wanted to know about me, remember? We studied, we fought, we learned to use our senses. Hearing was the worst, having to drown out hundreds of sounds to stalk my prey in the wild. Smell wasn’t so bad. Once a year we were made to sit for pictures, told to smile and appear happy. Those would be the pictures on your wall.”

I had hated taking those pictures. I had no idea what they were until I walked into this house for the first time.

“At twelve they began testing our healing abilities. Want to guess how they did that? You are no biological engineer but it seems like it wouldn’t be hard to guess. They cut us, they beat us, they injected greater amounts of venom in our bodies. We would be released in the wild with collars so we wouldn’t run off into the rainforest. We fought Jaguars for territory, we captured alligators and anacondas in the water to refine our aquatic skills and test our growing strength.

“At fourteen we began focusing on conventional weapons training and learning about the monsters we would be fighting, all to protect humanity. The vampire venom injections continued, occasionally natural shifters were brought in for us to fight. Once I fought a newly turned female vampire who had been captured by one of the older classes. She was stronger but I was faster. I ripped her throat out with my teeth in less than a minute. It was my first taste of vampire. They taste sweet, a bit tangy if you were wondering.”

Charlie was still looking at me but I could tell he wanted to run. That would be a mercy I wouldn’t grant him yet.

“At fifteen brain surgery was performed, a hunk of metal placed in my skull that could track my every movement, electrocute me if needed and protect my mind from supernatural powers my enemies could possibly have. I was also the strongest and fastest shifter. By then I had complete control of my powers and healing ability. I was the dominant jaguar in our class. No one could best me. At sixteen I was set loose on missions. I killed every creature I faced. Let me show you reminders of every battle I fought.”

I stood up and took off my shirt. The man gasped loudly and actually shrank back in his chair.

“Our healing abilities take care of most of our wounds from shifters, Yetis, Lycans but vampires are a bit more difficult. They like to scratch and bite like us. Some of the gashes heal, others do not. The bitemarks always remain. Three weeks before I was assigned here, my class set ourselves up to be food for a large coven. Out of twenty six of us, only four walked out. Most of my friends’ necks had been snapped or their spines shattered. A few had their throats tore out to the point of decapitation. We are still part human and only so strong. Now I am here in a small town living with the man who cursed me to this hell I have lived. That’s me. Tell me about your life Charlie.”

I put my shirt back on and sat waiting for him to say something.

“I… I don’t know what to say.” he told me. I was impressed he hadn’t run to the bathroom and vomited fried fish. He looked as if he wanted to.

“What hobbies do you enjoy?” I asked.

“Hobbies?”

“You obviously like sports. Are you a hunter, fisherman? Do you enjoy hiking, reading, writing poetry? Do you do anything besides work?”

The man shook his head. “Bella, I know sorry doesn’t…”

“Answer the question. You wanted us to get to know one another, remember? I am making an effort and I expect you to do the same.”

The man wiped his wet eyes and cleared his throat.

“I like to hunt and fish. I spend most of my time doing one or the other.”

“See? We do have something in common. Go on, do you have a girlfriend or someone you have sex with on a regular basis?”

That seemed to shock him out of the sadness he was exhibiting.

“I… no…”

“Why not?”

“I never got over your mother.” the man mumbled.

I raised my eyebrow. Still in love with his dead wife after sixteen years?

“Tell me about her.”

Chief Swan actually smiled a bit. It was nice that he had good memories of her and made me want to rip his throat out.

“She was beautiful like you. Renee was usually always happy. We both grew up in Forks. High school sweethearts and all that. She was full of energy and outgoing, she helped me break from my shell a bit, I guess. But… this town… we got married when we were twenty and had a good few years. It wasn’t enough for her. I love this area, had just gotten the job I wanted, but she wouldn’t stand for it. She wanted to go to Florida, live in a city where the sun actually shined. Anywhere but here. We argued about it a lot and she finally let it go, or I thought she had. I came home one day and she was gone, bags packed and a note on the table. I followed her of course but couldn’t talk her back into coming home, even after we found out she was pregnant. I was ready to quit, to move with her but she… she said she had enough. She wanted a divorce, whether I moved with her or not. I think she was tired… of Forks, of me, of everything. She was so excited about you though. We didn’t talk much over the phone about it but she occasionally mentioned some place she wanted to travel with you.”

Despite my desire to be cold, I admitted I felt a slowly burning fire in my chest. She had never done anything to me. I will never be convinced the Organization did not murder her. We could have had a great life, I knew it. Instead she was gone and I was… this. Her legacy was giving birth to a monster.

“I had planned to move to Florida anyway, just to be close to you, even if she didn’t want me anymore. I was there looking for a job when she went into labor and I took her to the hospital. Two hours later the doctor told me she had died from complications and you… I guess you know the rest. I was introduced to a doctor who said he could save you with a treatment regimen but… I would never see you again except through pictures. He promised me you would have the best life, get the best education and they would monitor you, see if the treatment had any long term effects. I didn’t know what else to do. You were so beautiful lying there but you were dying… your mom had just died and I was still in shock. I got to hold you one time before they took you.”

I looked away from him, hoping to hide the tears forming in my eyes. I should have never asked him to tell me about her. It was a mistake.

“If I had known what they were going to do I would have let you die and followed you myself. I didn’t though. I held onto the hope that one day maybe we would find each other. It was selfish, I know that, but never think I don’t love you, or that I didn’t love your mother. There will never be another woman for me. So no, I don’t date. I never have and I never will.”

I cleared my throat and stood up. “I need rest. I have things to do tonight. Good talk.”

I walked away quickly, in my room in seconds behind a locked door, grabbed my stuffed dog from my bed and cried into it so I couldn’t be heard.

I needed to get this out so I could focus. Maybe now he had said all he needed to say and would drop it, not push me anymore. I never should have asked about my mother.

The next three days I spent with Ty and Hawk, not even bothering to go to my residence. Sunday night had arrived though and school was in the morning. Despite my excitement, sleep wasn’t difficult.

At 6 AM I woke up excited for the day. My first day in a human school and a family of vampires would likely be there. Play time was about to begin.

After getting dressed I was considering going to Conolly’s for breakfast when Ty called.

“Ready for school?” I asked.

“Hell no. What about you? You ready?”

“Of course.”

“What did we talk about?”

I rolled my eyes, having gone over this for what seemed like a hundred times but was probably closer to ten.

“Use as much slang as possible but don’t sound like a beach bimbo. Act smart but not too smart. Do not be too blunt or rude, no growling. Use contractions, always. Try not being too stuck up but don’t be a doormat. Its okay to curse but only so much or I will sound like a ghetto rat. Do not admit I like country music, ever, to anyone.”

“That’s my girl. What are you wearing?”

“Way too tight blue jeans, my Tupac shirt and black leather jacket.”

I knew he wasn’t crazy about that outfit. The tee shirt was short sleeved. We had talked about the wisdom or lack of wisdom in this case but I was going to do what I wanted anyway and I think he understood that.

“You plannin on takin off your jacket, ain’t you?”

“Do you ever use the letter g?” I asked, not wanting to get involved in this debate.

“Not unless it involves guns or grenades. You sure you want to play this way?”

“Yep. Let them see the scars. You said it yourself, I shouldn’t hide them.”

“That was before I found out you was gonna be outnumbered probably five to one by some golden eyed vampires. Gold eyes could mean they kill more people. There is a difference between being brave and havin a death wish.”

“I’ve read your teams’ mission reports. I’m not sure if you guys know the difference. Let me do what I do. I won’t approach them probably. They will approach me in their own time. Just do what you do Mr. Gavin and let me do what I do. Teach those kids some history. I think I have you in the afternoon. Have a good day sir.”

If I wanted to make a subtle entrance in Forks High School life, it probably wasn’t the best idea to arrive on a Harley. Before I had the kickstand down, every eye in the parking lot was on me. Turning off the engine, it seemed as if even the birds in the sky were quiet. The entire parking lot was looking at me.

Not sure if I should yell hello to everyone or just walk inside, I decided to do the latter after checking out the parking lot for the vampire coven. No sign of pale skin or golden eyes so they must be late risers.

Before I could reach the door, a boy was in front of me. Judging by the way he eyed my body, his elevated heartrate and slight tremor in his body he was attracted to me. Wonderful.

“Hi, I’m Eric.” the poor boy stuttered out. “You are Bella Swan, the Chief’s daughter?”

I cringed at that title but realized it was the one I would be stuck during my time in Forks.

“Yep, that’s me.”

Yep. Yep was more natural than Yes. I think that’s what Ty said.

“Would you mind if I took a picture for the school paper? You are the biggest news to hit Forks in a long time. Maybe you could stand by your bike?”

“You have a school paper? Why? There can’t be more than a hundred students and they all seem to be in the parking lot right now staring at me. Why would you need a paper?”

My question seemed to stun him and too late I remembered Ty’s warning about being to blunt.

“Uh, yeah, good point. Do you know the way to the principal… of course you don’t. You’ve never been here before. I can take you to get your schedule and walk you to your classes. I think we have all the same classes.”

This day is getting off to a wonderful start. I’m looking for vampires and found a sexually frustrated nerd.

“Sure. You think you could publish a paper now asking all these people to stop staring at me? Its okay if its a handwritten message. It should only take thirty seconds to pass through everyone’s hand.”

Stop being rude Bella! And I thought be in high school would be so much fun. Somewhere Julie is laughing at me.

I followed this Eric guy into the old building which smelled horrible. It must have been a hundred years old. My schedule to my great joy did match Eric’s. I prayed he wouldn’t sit by me in every class. No matter. This was an issue that could be taken care of during the lunch hour.

The morning classes were disappointing as well and I began to doubt my earlier assumption that the vampires did go to high school. Perhaps there was a nearby college I should check out.

My doubts went away at lunch time.

I was asked to sit at a table with a group of teens by some guy named Mike something. I suppose I should have paid more attention. I was introduced to what I assumed was a clique. The mixture was not what I had expected. In movies there are usually a collection of like minded individuals, athletes, cheerleaders, nerds, goths, skateboarders and those who fit into no group. This collection seemed to be a mixture of tropes and they all seemed to get along.

I did my best to keep up with their banter and answer questions as vaguely as possible while watching the small cafeteria quickly fill.

There they were.

Dressed like models, high end fashion, the same ones I spied in the mansion. Four of them. Where was the fifth?

“That’s Dr and Mrs. Cullen’s kids.” the girl named Angela told me. “The blonde ones are twins, Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The other two are Emmett and Alice.”

“I can’t believe they are in the same house and like together, together.” a blonde named Lauren grumbled.

“Together?” Mated pairs. Jasper and Alice had gone to Colorado and Emmett and Rosalie were hunting together. The Organization had never determined if mating was a physical or spiritual need or even if it was real. There were dozens of theories on supernatural creatures and their possible link to spiritual entities. Most scientists refused to believe in such a thing. They preferred to believe shifting and vampirism as completely scientific phenomenon. Other more fringe scientists studied possible spiritual connections in regard to shifting. Was there a supernatural aspect in DNA that made some more perceptible and sensitive to unseen worlds and unexplainable forces?

The answer didn’t matter to me but it did give the Organization something to do besides torture test subjects.

Someone explained what I already knew but they were wrong on one thing. Jasper and Rosalie were not twins. Jasper appeared to have a difficult time remembering how to breath. Did the scents of the students bother him more than the others or was it the foul smell of this cafeteria food and the decrepit building?

In walked contestant number 5.

“That’s Edward Cullen. He is the only single one.” the Jessica girl told me. “Don’t bother trying though. Apparently, us local girls aren’t good enough to date him.”

The jealousy in her voice was barely concealed. The poor thing was probably upset that every male at this table was looking at me like I looked at steak.

“I’m gay and my girlfriend died three weeks before I moved to Forks. I don’t believe I will be asking anyone out, much less a guy.” I told her, eyes still on the single Cullen.

Edward Cullen stopped walking at my words but never looked my way.

I took my eyes off of him, remembering I shouldn’t blatantly stare at the vampires. Looking at my new friends, it became clear they had no problem staring at me.

“Something wrong?” Did I not use a contraction? I really needed to watch more movies about high school.

“Did you say you were gay?” Lauren asked.

“Big time.” I confirmed. I looked back across the cafeteria and saw the five vampires were all seated now and not bothering to be subtle in regard to staring at me. Time to give them something else to stare at.

“Wow, its getting a little warm in here.” I said.

“Yes, it is.” Mike mumbled.

I took my jacket off slowly and placed it on the back of my chair, my arms bare.

“Jesus! What happened to you?!” Jessica asked.

“Jess!” Angela hissed. She must be the proper one.

“Its fine. I don’t mind. The scars on my arms are from a motorcycle accident. I turned my bike over to avoid an oncoming car in the wrong lane. As far as the bite mark, I was attacked by a wolf when I went to Europe on a hiking trip.”

That wasn’t completely a lie. I glanced at the vampires and saw I had caught them off guard. Two of them were sniffing and Edward Cullen was staring at me intently as if trying to see inside my head. Mental power?

The one named Jasper stayed unmoving but his mouth was open and his eyes were locked onto my arms. I wonder if he would actually start breathing if I took my clothes off and showed the bitemarks on the rest of my body.

Rosalie was looking very leery. The big one, Emmett seemed curious and a bit humored.

I met Rosalie’s eyes and winked at her then returned to my burger, which was definitely not made of any type of meat. I had announced my presence. Now I would ignore them. I knew what they were, they didn’t know what I was. I had the power in this game now.

I really liked the skirt the tiny vampire had on.

The bell rang and I was surprised that after not having any classes with the vampires in the morning, Jasper Hale was two desks away from me in history class. I caught Ty’s eye and he looked away and nodded. He knew what one of the vampires looked like now, not that it was hard to tell they were different if one knew what to look for.

Hale wasn’t staring at the moment and I wouldn’t look at him, focusing all my attention on Ty’s teaching debut.

“Afternoon Class. Name is Mr. Gavin or sir. Either works. I understand ya’lls old teacher retired, said he couldn’t take a few more months of you kids until summer so here I am. We are going to spend this semester going over a lot of stuff. This is the way its going to work. We are going to watch movies. After the movies maybe the next day or Friday we are going to have some discussion about the movies. If everybody seems like they got a good understanding we will move on to the next set of movies. There won’t be no homework because I don’t feel like grading it. If everybody keeps quiet about my teaching methods, no complaints, everybody gets an A. If anybody does complain they are probably going to get you all a new teacher who will give you homework and shi… stuff. We all on the same page?”

And he was worried I wouldn’t fit in.

“Excellent. We are going to study war this semester. All of you are going to know everything Hollywood can teach you about war. We are going to start with the American Revolution. Anybody seen that Sons of Liberty miniseries on the History Channel before? We gonna start with that. We won’t spend too much time on the Civil War. All you need to know about that is the good guys kicked the bad guys ass. World War 1 was a mess of political problems and some cardinal gettin killed, I think. We will watch Wonder Woman. Basically all you need to know about World War 1 in two hours. Germans let Ares fool them, Wonder Woman kicked the hell out of Ares, war was over. Got it?

“World War two, we got Saving Private Ryan and a show called Band of Brothers. That’s gonna take a while. Then we move on to Vietnam. I got that Mel Gibson movie, Apocalypse Now and a few violent documentaries ya’ll probably need to see. Then we get to the lecturing part of the semester where I talk about the war on terror. We will go over everything in that section in detail then we gonna go home and chill over the summer. Everybody with me?”

I closed my eyes waiting for the class’s reaction. To my shock they stood up and began applauding him.

Except for my vampire. He looked a bit annoyed. Perhaps there was a part of American History he didn’t live through. I had no way of determining how old any of them were but I suspected if they put up with this charade so their coven leader could be a doctor, it wasn’t their first time pretending to be high school students and they moved often.

As I walked out of class, despite being aware of his presence I was surprised when he called out to me.

“Bella Swan?”

I stepped out in the hallway and saw he had offered his hand. I took it and he squeezed. I squeezed back.

We kept testing the others strength longer than one should hold hands with another.

“If you don’t let go of my hand your cute girlfriend might get jealous.” I told him.

“I guess you heard I’m Jasper Hale. I’m sure your new friends told you all about my family.”

I said nothing, waiting for him to make another move. The less I gave him the more he would give. Despite my theory that they fed on animals it was impossible to say if they had friends with much more liberal feeding habits.

“That’s quite a grip you got.” he offered. I shrugged my shoulders.

“Don’t talk much, huh?”

“Daddy doesn’t like me talking to boys.” I offered.

The man actually smiled. I didn’t like it. Animal feeder or not, the sight of vampire teeth up close caused my body to want to go into defensive mode and show my teeth.

“From what I hear, he really doesn’t have to worry about boys.”

“Heard that all the way across the cafeteria huh?”

“Nope. Your friends had the news out about sixties seconds after the lunch period ended.”

I wasn’t surprised. Like I told Eric this school was too small to need a paper.

“If you want to talk send me a friend request on Facebook and we can chat over Messenger.” I told him pleasantly. At least as pleasantly as I was capable of.

The man shook his head. “That won’t work. I was kinda hoping we could compare scars.”

“And I could have sworn you just said you knew I was gay.”

The vampire rolled up his long sleeve. A human wouldn’t have noticed them on the vampire’s perfect pale skin but me eyes certainly did. He had three bitemarks on his left forearm alone.

“Are those scars? They are so feint I can barely see them. Were you attacked by dogs as well?”

“I’ve been attacked by a lot of things. What perfume are you wearing? I have to say it is unique.”

“No perfume. I have a house cat. Probably what you are smelling. Are you sure your girlfriend isn’t going to get jealous? Asking me to compare scars, complimenting my… scent. I wouldn’t want her to get the wrong idea.”

“I won’t.”

Damn the short one was fast. The smell of this damn building must be dulling my senses.

“Alice Cullen.” she introduced herself, offering her hand.

“Bella Swan.”

“Yes, the woman who made history. The first ever confirmed lesbian ever to walk the halls of Forks High School.” she told me, seeming amused and at ease.

“I’m the first? That’s so cool. Do I get a plaque or a trophy or something?”

“Unfortunately you just have every teenage boy in this school wanting you more. Tough break.”

“Story of my life. So do you have any scars you want to compare with me?”

She giggled and it seemed natural. Yep, this was one ferocious vampire.

“I apologize for Jasper. He can be so inquisitive sometimes he forgets its not polite to ask people personal questions. Perhaps we can meet later? I would love to get to know you.”

“I’m sure we will get to know each other eventually. Not today though. I should be getting to gym. It was nice to meet both of you. I love that skirt Alice.”

I stepped between the two bumping Jasper’s shoulder as I did, knocking him back a step. I really wanted to see the look on his face but I shouldn’t. I had no doubt they would be watching my house tonight and I would be watching them. Eventually we would get bored with each other and go on about our lives.

Gym was entertaining. Hawk was taking his role as gym teacher much more seriously than Ty. I sat on one end of the bleachers and the Cullens sat on the other. I could feel their stares and it was hard not to laugh. They are so unsubtle they may as well ask me what kind of monster I am.

My phone buzzed and I saw Hawk’s did too. I saw the text was from Dante. Must be trouble.

Suspicious death, body tore to pieces in Oregon. Police believe its a wild animal but can’t determine what kind. Only hair left behind is of unknown species.

Something to fight finally.

Load up guys. We fly from Port Angeles at sundown. See you after school. B.

One more class and I can do what I came here to do. I guess the Cullens wouldn’t get to watch me tonight after all.

My final class of the day was biology.

So of course the one open seat was next to Edward Cullen.

“Class we have a new student. Bella would you like to introduce yourself and maybe tell us a little about you?” the teacher asked.

“No.”

He said nothing for a moment then moved on to the lesson plan. I suppose either no new students had ever arrived or he had never been told no before.

“Not much for talking in public?” Edward asked me. “I’m Edward.”

“I know. You know who I am. Let’s not do the song and dance okay? Your family thinks I’m weird, I know your family is weird. Let’s just leave it at that lab buddy.”

I probably shouldn’t have been so short. My mind was already on a possible Sasquatch though. I had never fought one though from what I understood they were similar to Yeti. Simple. Stalk him from above, let my team send a couple thousand rounds of ammo into him, then I deliver death from above. Easy enough, and those were the ones that usually became the most complicated. The lay of the land would determine how much the team could become involved.

“I’m sorry, I’ve lost my manners. I have a lot on my mind. Its nice to meet you Edward.”

“No problem. I usually have a lot on my mind as well. I am sorry to hear… I heard about your girlfriend dying. You have my sincerest sympathies.”

I believed him. These vampires were definitely different and I picked up no trace of danger from them. It was a relief. I really didn’t want to fight a vampire war I couldn’t win close to my base of operations.

We didn’t speak the remainder of the class but I noticed a few times he sniffed the air. My scent, all our scents were confusing to supernatural creatures, a mix of human and shifter blood tainted with vampire venom. It was a miracle or a curse the Italian pied piper even took us into the castle.

After class Edward stopped me in the hallway just as Jasper had done.

“I realize being new you haven’t had time to make many friends. My family is having a movie night. Would you be interested in joining us? My brothers and sisters would love to get to know you.”

I am sure they would, but something tells me they wouldn’t approve of the real me.

“Thank you for the invitation but I have a part time job and I have to work tonight. Have a good evening Edward.”