New story! I've been toying around with this idea for a bit. EVERYONE is human, and it'll be a bit of the original Twilight love triangle, but with strong elements of the Crank series with Ellen Hopkins tied into it (which, by the way, I STRONGLY recommend if you haven't read it). Enjoy!

The Monster

Chapter 1

I could feel her eyes on me as I entered the room. Was it the state of my mind that made me think that she was penetrating my soul with her eyes? The monster had its claws wrapped tightly around my brain. Hopefully keeping me in check more than anything else. Just give her five minutes, then you can go upstairs and play with me some more. It seemed to whisper from inside my brain, as well as inside my purse. Give her five minutes to lecture you, don't lose your temper or you'll lose me.

"Glad to see you finally came home," Renee said. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

"Sorry," I mumbled. "We lost track of time." I really wasn't in the mood for the third degree from her.

"You have a cell phone for a reason," she said. "A simple phone call would have sufficed." She moved closer to me, and I got nervous that she'd be able to smell the evening's activities with my boyfriend, Brad, on me. I was wired out of my mind and I knew that I wouldn't be getting a wink of sleep tonight, but as soon as I could go up to my room, I'd be safe. I needed a shower to get the scent of weed and meth out of my hair and skin.

She stared me straight in the eyes, could she see how dilated they were? Could she tell? I met her eyes; if I looked away she'd suspect something for sure.

"I really am sorry," I said. "The concert went later than we expected." There hadn't even been a concert…well there had been, just there had never been a plan of us going to it. I had hoped that once I got here, both she and her husband Phil would be asleep, but as Brad had driven up the driveway, I had seen the living room lights on and I knew I would be in shit once I got inside.

Summer vacation would begin in twenty-seven days, and my grades were going to shit. And Renee knew.

"Bella, what has been going on with you?" she asked. "Three of your teachers called this week saying that they aren't sure if you're going to pass their classes."

I shrugged. "I've just been really stressed out lately, and homework has been piling up. By the time finals come I'll be fine."

I could tell that she didn't like what I was saying, but what else could she really say? Of course I couldn't tell her the real reason why I was failing most, if not all, my classes. Instead of going to class, I would do better things with Brad. And if I did go to class, I went so high that I had no idea what was even going on in the class.

"I think that it would be beneficial for you to spend this summer with your father," she said.

"What?" I demanded angrily. "Why?"

"Because Phil and I think it would be good for you to get away from Arizona for a bit," she said, and I knew what she really meant. Phil and I think it'd be good for you to get away from Brad for a bit.

I knew that they didn't approve of Brad. They had never liked them, ever since we first started dating.

"What if I don't want to go?" I challenged her.

"Maybe if you get your grades up you can decide," she said. We both knew there wasn't a chance in hell of that happening. I could see in her eyes that she knew I wasn't going to get my grades up. "If you pass all of your classes, you can decide whether you go or not."

"And what does Dad think about all this?" I asked.

"He's perfectly fine with you going for a visit," she said.

"So that's all you're going to do?" I asked. "Ship me off to Forks?"

"What else can I do?" she asked. "There's more going on with you than you're telling me, I can tell. I've given you quite a lot of freedom for these past few months, and I've noticed a significant difference in who you are. You've lost weight; your marks are going down...Bella, what is going on with you? Is it Brad?"

"No," I said. "Look, I know I may not have made the best choices lately, but I promise I'll be fine. Please don't ship me off to see Dad."

She shook her head. "It's been settled, Bella. Unless you get your grades up you have no choice in the matter."

I didn't know what else to say, so I just said good night to her and went upstairs. I was so angry. What the fuck was I going to do in Forks? It was the epitome of boring, and where could I score there? I lay in bed, deep in thought. I highly doubted I'd be able to get my grades up, no matter how hard I worked.

I thought back to tonight. That brought me some better memories. Brad and I, snorting lines, the slight sting that came with every snort, the burning sensation shooting through your nose, directly into your brain, feeling as though fireworks were going off.

Sitting out in an abandoned field, clothes being shed, our bodies moving in perfect rhythm against one another…heaven.

Back in his car, seeming as though we would be leaving each other all too soon, but realizing it was almost two in the morning, smoking a joint with him, to calm down the speed racing through me, just as a cover for Renee. Brad had given me some meth to keep with me, to get back to the high we had achieved earlier.

Even though snorting lines wasn't even close to as fun as doing it with somebody else, I didn't like doing it alone, that took away a lot of the fun of it.

For the rest of the night I just lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. I was tempted to go get my bag and snort a few lines, but I really couldn't be bothered to get up. Smoking some weed normally made crashing easier, and I was going to crash very soon. Tomorrow I would probably be asleep for the entire day, but it was completely worth it. Tomorrow was Sunday; it was so much easier to crash on weekends. A few times I had crashed during a school day, and it was tough to convince Renee to let me stay home, especially when I could barely string together a sentence.

For the few, final weeks before summer vacation, I worked my ass of in school. I got extra credit work, didn't skip a single class-which was taking a serious toll on my mental stability-and limited my meth use. I would not go to Forks. I refused.

After I finished my last final, I still didn't think I passed all my classes. I wasn't completely confident in how I had done. I felt like I had missed half the coursework, and that my teachers all tested us on the coursework that I had missed.

In a week I would know whether or not I passed everything, and I was legitimately worried. I had explained the situation to Brad, and he had been good about it, he understood why we weren't blazing up or snorting at lunch as often.

Sure, I'd still go to the odd class high, but not nearly as often anymore. I limited my use to after school, sometimes even then I wouldn't use. Yes, it was affecting me more than I wanted to admit, but I could feel it. In fact, tonight brad and I were going to have our own little party. I was going to celebrate finishing all my finals, whether I passed or not. His parents were out so we'd have the house to ourselves, and the prospect of that excited me beyond belief. I didn't know if we would be the only two people there, and I didn't really care either way. Whether it was just us, or a houseful of people, I knew we'd be having fun-and not just the kind of fun that involved snorting and smoking-fun behind closed, bedroom doors.

Fun. What a word that is, and how it changes as you grow older. For a two-year-old, fun is being chased around the house, and being scared around every corner. For a four-year-old, fun is being able to ride your new bike around the block with the training wheels on, or playing with dolls and toys. For an eight-year-old, fun is finally being able to ride your bike sans training wheels. For a thirteen-year-old…that's where the prospect of fun begins to change. You start to notice the opposite sex more, and then you really get the idea of the amount of fun you can have.

As for me? Seventeen-year-old Bella? What's fun for me?

A number of things. I used to be one of the top students in the class-quiet, but brainy. I wouldn't say I was a nerd; I did have quite a lot of friends, all of which had never even taken a teeny tiny stroll with the monster in their lives, let alone the amount I could use in a day. As far as I knew, nobody who I was friends with used.

Which was why I also had a new group of friends…and Brad was the main part of that new group of friends. Before I met Brad, I had never taken drugs in my life before, apart from the odd Advil or prescribed medication.

I can remember the first time I used as if it was yesterday. Brad and I had hung out a few times, and he had offered for me to try a few times. When he was with me he would really only smoke weed, but I knew that he also had meth on him. He lit up a joint, and offered it to me. I deliberated for a second and then made my decision.

"I don't want to try that," I can remember myself saying.

I can remember the way his eyebrows arched in surprise. "What do you want to try?"

"What's in that little black lockbox under the passenger seat of your car."

"You sure?"

I remember nodding, and then he grasped my hand and led me to his car. He reached under my seat and pulled out the lockbox. The mirror, the blade and the straw all came out of it, along with the magical powder. I watched as Brad prepared the lines, and I felt my stomach flip in anticipation.

"Ladies first," he said, handing the mirror to me. I bent forward, placed the straw at the end of one of the fat lines, and snorted the entire thing. The pain was almost unbearable. It felt as though my sinuses were being assaulted. They burned and tingled, and I wanted to scream. I could feel it work its way to my brain, and the fireworks started going off there as well.

I wanted to scream and cry, but that wasn't cool. So, I remained completely neutral, and snorted another line up my other nostril. This time it wasn't as bad, because I knew what to expect. That day I didn't just have one first. After a few lines I wanted more than just the crank-and his name was Brad. I wanted to be with him in every way I could. I wanted to feel his passion for me, and I wanted to feel his passion for me. That was the day I had lost my virginity to the man I loved more than anything.

I smile at myself in the mirror, reliving that day. I did the final, finishing touches on my makeup, and went back into my bedroom. My overnight bag was packed, and my lie was secure in my head. All I needed to do was get past Renee. It shouldn't be hard; I was telling her I was going to my friend, Zoë's house for the night. I figured as long as I didn't mention Brad's name, I'd be perfectly fine.

"Mom?" I called, going downstairs to the kitchen. "Is it alright if I spend tonight at Zoë's?"

She looked up from flipping through her magazine to stare me down, as if looking for some flaw in what I said. I didn't break eye contract with her, and kept my expression neutral.

"That's fine," she said. "Do you need me to drive you there?"

I shook my head. "No, I can walk. Her house isn't far."

"Alright," she said. "When are you going?"

"I was thinking of leaving in about twenty minutes," I said. I needed to call Brad to let him know to come get me.

"Make sure you eat something there," she said, turning back to her magazine.

That sure as hell wasn't going to happen. Eating was the absolute last thing on my mind.

I went back upstairs and called Brad, letting him know I was good to go. About ten minutes later, I left the house, calling a goodbye to Renee and Phil.

I walked down the street and around the corner to see Brad's car. My stomach fluttered in excitement and I walked quicker to his car.

I couldn't wait for the party to begin.